Reflections on a journey

Reflections on a journey

On the 6^th of August, 2011, with a mixture of expectation and trepidation, and accompanied by a leader and support van, 14 riders and two passengers set off from Anchorage, Alaska on an epic journey to the bottom of the world in Ushuaia, and on to Buenos Aires, Argentina.    A week later, following a tragic, fatal accident, a non-riding related accident and what was a potentially serious riding accident, 11 riders emerged from the infamous Dalton Highway in a more sombre mood.  With some hasty repairs in Fairbanks, one damaged bike was brought back to service and the twelve of us headed south for 20,000 miles.

With a renewed sense of reality of the consequences of a moment’s loss of concentration, unpredictable road surfaces or the impact of the actions of others outside of your control, this was not just a longer biking holiday with a few friends that we had all done in the past.  We were about to experience, in the next 19 weeks, some breath-taking and truly varied landscapes from mountains to deserts to oceans, to ride some awesome roads and to face some challenging rough roads, landslides, suicidal drivers and animals, gale-force winds and torrential tropical rain, in temperatures from 0 – 47C.

This will be the concluding post of this journey, and will be a summary of my personal reflections on a long journey after a week of winding down in Buenos Aires.  First of all I’d like to express my appreciation for all the words of encouragement I have received from many of you.  For the motorcyclists among you I know that you have “ridden” many of the miles with me through the descriptions of the roads, and for the other travellers, through the photos and descriptions of the places I have visited and people I have met.  This was mostly a personal diary but one I have been pleased to share with friends and family.

Favourite places

Many people have asked me what my favourite place was.  This is impossible to answer as there is not a single criterion upon which one can make that judgment.   There are many places to which I should like to return because of the landscape, the cultural activities or the people I have met, or all three.  But also, the impression on the mind can be a consequence of the mood I was in on the day.

For spectacular scenery here are some of my most memorable scenes…..

The Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range, Alaska marks the Continental Divide and a sudden change in scenery in northern Alaska. Descending from the Atigun one drops into the North Slope and on to Prudhoe Bay, the northernmost settlement reachable by “road” in the Americas, and our first destination.

Atigun Pass on the Brooks Range - Dalton Highway - Alaska

The Top of the World Highway, 130 miles long through Yukon, Canada was a challenge as it was entirely a gravel road, but the scenery was spectacular riding the mountain ridge with distant horizons, and almost entirely deserted.

Top of the World Highway - Yukon

After the remote Top of the World and the Al-Can highways in Alaska and Yukon, dropping into the relative civilization of Alberta the roads generally improved from here all the way to Arizona in the North American section.  There were many opportunities to see mountains, glacial lakes and wildlife as we approached Jasper National Park and the Columbia Ice Fields.

Old Highway 93

Glaciers are always spectacular, although the Glacier National Park was devoid of them!  As we reached the bottom of the Stewart – Cassier Highway, one of the most enjoyable roads I have ever ridden, we encountered the Alaskan panhandle of Stewart and Hyder with access to the salmon Glacier.

Salmon Glacier - Outside of Hyder, Alaska

There was no shortage of mountain roads providing endless riding pleasure with eye pleasing views.  Chief Joseph Pass and Bears Tooth Pass in Wyoming were particularly memorable in the northern USA section.

Bears Tooth Pass - Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park is unforgettable, not only for its hot springs, geysers and huge lakes, but also for its size, taking several hours to drive across.   Old Faithful is of course a major tourist attraction located outside of the Inn of the same name, but perhaps the more impressive scenes for me were the lake and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone from Artists’ Point.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Wyoming

Yellowstone Lake

Immediately south of Yellowstone you encounter the Grand Teton National Park, reflected in the lake.  On a sunny day there is no possibility of just driving past.  You have to stop and absorb the scene.  This was one area that I was driving “off piste” to visit friends Kirby and Judy in Wyoming, south of Jackson.

Grand Tetons

The section through Colorado, Utah and Arizona included some of the most striking scenery with National Parks of Arches, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.

Monument Valley

Grand Canyon, Arizona from North Rim

One of my most enduring memories was the road through Central Mexico.  As we left the desert floor which extends from Arizona, we entered into a high mountainous area which was reminiscent of the Himalayas near Shimla which I had ridden a couple of years ago.  I had not expected this scenery and the riding was fantastic, probably the best riding we did on the whole trip with 200 miles of twists and turns on good roads through cloud forest covered mountains on the way to Huejutla.

Southern Mexico - Cloud Forest

Entering Guatemala we encountered almost continuous volcanic features for the rest of Central America as typified by Lake Atitlan in Panajachel.  Guatemala, along with Central and Southern Mexico occupy a very special place in my memories of Central America.  The hard working and gentle Maya descendants were just a pleasure to be around.  The old colonial town of Antigua Guatemala, the former capital, was a time capsule, 200 years old.

Atitlan Lake, Panajachel, Guatemala

Antigua Guatemala

Panama was the first “modern” city we had seen for a while, since for the most part we had not visited the capital cities of the Central American countries.  The contrast of the old and the new and the historic context as the centre of Spanish Colonial Rule made it special.

Panama - The old and the new

Colombia was memorable for some of the heaviest traffic we encountered, tight and twisty mountain roads but also for the quaint city of Popayan.

Popayan Square at night

Ecuador was such a pleasant surprise.  With good roads, the bustling and historic city of Quito and more volcanoes! The unforgettable Quito cathedral and the 2 hour guided tour were a highlight.

Altar at Quito Cathedral

It is impossible to summarise Peru in a few worlds or pictures.  Spending more than 2 weeks discovering the deserts, canyons, altiplano,  cities and cultural sites of Nasca, Macchu Pichu and Lake Titicaca was not nearly enough to know the country, but provides a short list of places to revisit one day.

Canyon del Pato - Peru

Nasca Humming Bird

Altiplano village at 13000 feet

Cauchilla Mummies at Nasca

Macchu Pichu

The vast deserts of Peru continue into Northern Chile.  The Atacama is one of the driest places on earth.  Hot during the day and below freezing at night, it presents a formidable landscape for man and animals.

Atacama Desert near San Pedro

Crossing between Chile and Argentine several times following the famous Carretera Austral and Ruta 40 we covered hundreds of miles of gravel and dirt roads through some spectacular landscapes volcanic ash clouds, mountains, glaciers and villages tucked away in remote areas.

Carretera Austral - Tough roads, awesome scenery

Perito Moreno Glacier bear El Calafate

The city of Santiago was a highlight of the trip – clean, modern, efficient.

City of Santiago

The final push to Tierra del Fuego and arrival at Ushuaia, the “end of the world”, was in many ways a moment of realisation that the journey was coming to an end, and that the justification of a destination to create the journey had been achieved.

Fin del Mundo - The "End of the World" and time to head north

The return north to Buenos Aires crossed 2,000 miles of Eastern Patagonia and the Pampa, almost entirely deserted.  Buenos Aires with over 15 million people made up for it!

Buenos Aires - The Casa Rosada made famous by the film Evita

And no visit to Buenos Aires is complete without a visit to the Evita Peron mausoleum in La Recoleta.  The city is full of Evita memorabilia.

Mausoleum of Evita Duarte in La Recoleta, Buenos Aires

And the final country…..a quick trip to Uruguay provided a special end to the journey.  In wind-down mode and ready for some relaxation, Colonia del Sacramento on the coast of the Rio de la Plata opposite Buenos Aires could not have been more of a contrast.

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay - Old Town

As the sun goes down in Colonia, so it does on  the journey.  A fitting end perhaps.

Sunset in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay across the Rio de la Plata

Challenging Moments

The ride provided many opportunities for stretching my comfort zone. Beginning with the Dalton Highway, it was a tough start to the trip, followed a week later by the Top of the World highway.

The Dalton Highway, Alaska - The Famous "Ice Road" and our first dirt experience of the trip

Approaching the Bear’s Tooth Pass in Wyoming, road works crated an unexpected hazard.  This was true for many parts of the journey where paved roads were replaced with temporary dirt sections, in paces for miles.

If only all roads carried the warnings of Bears Tooth pass!

The Mokee Dugway in Utah kept me awake for two nights before we arrived based on its reputation as a difficult road.  The warning signs for 25 miles before also did nothing to dispell the fear of impending danger.  As it turned out, it was much shorter, and not as challenging as I had feared, or maybe I was just getting more adept at gravel roads and steep descents.

Warnings for Mokee Dugway

In Central America we had plenty of chances to overcome landslides and wash-outs.  These we expected, but did not know where we would come across them. The wet, slippery mud was unpredeictable as was the time it would take to get moving.

Landslides in Guatemala after overnight rain storm

The Banana Bridge between Costa Rica and Panama was a major obstacle, if not physically, but also mentally.   Sharing a rickety bridge with trains, trucks and pedestrians, none of which would get out of the way for a motorcycle, proved to be an interesting experience as the boards along the sides tended to move as we passed over and did not always meet at the ends or edges.  We were, it seems, the first group which rode across the bridge, without incident, out of the past 4 similar motorcycle expeditions.

Crossing the banana bridge - Costa Rica to Panama: Keep focused on the end and go!

I dropped my bike on three occasions.  In Guatemala as I was parking at a roadside food stall and my foot slid on mud, in Canyon del Pato trying to do a U-turn on a steep incline, and on the Carretera Austral as I hit a pile of deep gravel .  Thankfully all were either stopped or at very low speed.

Shiny side no longer facing upwards: Canyon del Pato, Peru

Ruta 40 in Argentina is infamous.  Earning the right to place this sticker on the windscreen is certainly a mark of the badge of honour! Hundreds of miles of gravel and dirt roads across Patagonia, with fierce, gusting horizontal winds and heavy vehicles make this one of the most challenging riding experiences that most of us will ever face.  Once again, in previous expeditions, some people have opted out of the Ruta 40 and taken the coastal road instead.  There are a lot of roadworks on Ruta 40 now which made it more of a challenge, buit in a few years time, much of it will be paved and the challenge will disappear.

Ruta 40 is known as one of the toughest roads for the gravel surface and high winds

While Ruta 40 faces challenges of gravel and high winds, the Carretera Austral can have steep inclines as well.  Add to this heavy machinery grading the surfaces and washging a wave of loose mud over your boots as you wait for them to pass, and you have the recipe for a very scary ride.

Carretera Austral, Chile: gravel, mud and steep inclines

People and Cultural Richness

The landscapes through which we passed were often breathtaking. The roads, twisting and winding through mountains and deserts were frequently so long that you had to stop and re-focus, but left you with a grin from ear to ear.  But the journey also included some of the most educational and cultural experiences that I have had in my life.

The Tlingit museum and lodge on our way from Yukon to British Colombia celebrated the First Nations heritage.  Although the totems here were for tourism, they represented a long and rich civilization.  Later we passed through a village and saw a row of totems for long departed ancestors.

Totem at Tlingit First Nations Heritage centre

Approaching Moab in Utah, we rode along the Colorado Canyon.  I was attracted by the dark “desert varnish” which coated the sandstone rocks lining the canyon, and stopping to take a closer look, found a slab with inscribed petroglyphs.  Later, talking to the park rangers, it appears that the slab I found had not been mapped on to their database.  Dating from before the 13^th century, they marked a pre-European settle civilization, still very much in the stone age.

Petroglyphs from Colorado canyon - Utah

Mesa Verde in southern Utah is another site I had visited before, but to see the cliff dwellings is always a rich sight.  Dating from the 9^th to 12^th centuries it marks the stage in Anasazi development before they disappeared quite suddenly form the area.

Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings

The Mayan civilization, both in its heyday of the 5 – 9^th centuries and today add great depth to the journey.  Pelenque in southern Mexico was a major site as was Copan.  We also met a current Shaman from Mayan ancestry in Chichicastenango, Guatemala, who blessed our journey in a Mayan ritual over an altar said to be more than a thousand years old.

Palenque - Mayan city

The Shaman Blessing - Mayan altar

More modern cultural experience were afforded through many churches and cathedrals we visited along the way, but also through art.  The Botero museums in Colombia, in Bogota and Medellin, celebrate the famous artist and his unique style of portraying the human form.

The curious art of Botero

Traditional crafts are still practiced in many central and South American countries.  Watching an old woman spinning Alpaca yarn in the Chivay town square while engaging in a chat with other local women added a rich dimension to our visit.

Spinning alpaca wool - Chivay

And of course the children.  Everywhere we went we found children happy to come up and talk with us, try to sell us sweets or fruit, or just want to climb on the bikes.

Mariana at the fuel stop

Kids in the chocolatier

What have I learned?

1/ about myself

To want to go for a ride on the bike is a hobby.  To look forward every day to strapping on the boots, in rain or shine, cold or hot, gravel or asphalt, is a passion.  There was not a day I did not look forward to riding, seeing new sights, meeting new people and discovering new customs even when I was faced with 200 miles of gravel.

I also appreciated that this was a privilege to have the chance to travel the length of the Americas.

2/ about the equipment

Bike – The BMW GS1200 Adventure is a truly remarkable machine. From high speed blasting across the paved road surface, to picking its way through deep mud, gravel, rocks and on steep inclines, it is probably the best bike for the job, especially when carrying a full load of luggage .

Preparation– there is no substitute for good preparation, be it maps, the bike equipment, clothes, and mental preparation.  In this way there were fewer circumstances when you had to meet unexpected challenges.

Clothes – I carried too many.  Daily washing routines made clothes easy to manage and I could have used less than half of what I actually took.  Merino wool is fantastic!  Multiple layers and good waterproofs meant that I was never too hot, never too cold and never wet on the inside (except in Costa Rica when I thought I could outrun the storm in Volcan Arenal!)

3/ About People

From Alaska to Ushuaia and all countries in between, people are in many ways similar and very different.  The availability of good education is crucial.  It is still the case in many countries in Central and South America that 5-6 children is the norm for poorer people to provide a cushion in old age for parents who have no pension or savings, while the more wealthy have 1-2 children.  This ensures a permanent poverty trap and encourages social unrest as the gap between rich and poor widens.  Perceived or actual corruption in the ruling structure further promotes unrest and the heavily politicized graffiti in many countries through which we passed bears testimony to dissatisfaction through the population.

But one cannot be but impressed at the hard working people of South Mexico and Guatemala where the countryside is worked in family sized patches of vegetables, a pig or two, few chickens and all the family working away.  Carrying large bundles to markets the men and women work side by side to sustain their livelihoods.  The patchwork of smallholdings covers the rich volcanic soil on mountain sides even on the most impossible slopes where mechanisation cannot be considered.

And spare a thought for the remote Estancias in Argentina when you next tuck into a steak or lamb, and the harsh life they lead to bring the food to the table.  Often hundreds of miles from even the nearest small town, the remoteness in a cold, semi-arid and windswept landscape must be tough.

It has been a life enriching experience. Thank you for coming with me.

Martin Hutchison

December 20^th, 2011

North to Buenos Aires – heading home

Ushuaia: Rest day at the bottom of the world

Sunday, December 4^th:  Ushuaia is a busy little town at the bottom of the world and seems to exist because of itself.  As a popular stop-off point for cruise liners the hotels are full with tourists from many countries eager to add the “end of the world” to their list of places they have visited.

Ushuaia skyline

A walk along promenade also reveals a military purpose as many bronze busts of naval characters celebrate Ushuaia’s history.

Ushuaia Bay

But it is also a prominent container port.  Given its location, hundreds of miles from any other centre of consumption or population, it is not clear why there is such a large container handling facility.  Certainly we saw a number of trucks hauling containers along the gravel road to the Chile border, but given the larger town of Punta Arenas which is better connected to the road network, I don’t think the truck traffic accounts for the number of containers in the dock.

Containers, Cruise ships and Antarctica expeditions

As well as the larger cruise ships there are a number of smaller vessels which are used as adventure/expedition cruises to Antarctica side by side with the container ships.  A number of smaller vessels also handle day trips to the near islands in the bay to go to the penguin colonies and also spot dolphins and other sea life.

Ushuaia Bay

Being Sunday morning and a typical tourist town of souvenir gift shops, restaurants and bars, it is noticeably quiet.  The surrounding mountains, still snow capped in late spring, make an attractive backdrop to Ushuaia.

Ushuaia

Ushuaia to Rio Grande: 130 Miles:  Retracing our steps and heading north

I have often observed that although travelling along the same road, it is often quite different in reverse.  I have seen this in Spain where in one direction one is looking at mountains, while in the other direction one is looking at the coast, and so my favourite rides are in fact two rides on the same road.  So it was leaving Ushuaia this morning and heading back along Ruta 3 to Rio Grande through which we briefly passed two days previously.  The road rises quite quickly through the mountains surrounding the town, but with quite good roads and little traffic there were no real challenges.

Road leaving Ushuaia

Yesterday and the day before when we arrived, we saw Ushuaia in probably at its best: warm, mostly sunny and dry.  Today it was cool, hovering around 10C, and started to rain as we left.  Passing through the mountain pass and heading towards the lower, tree clad hills of the central area of Tierra del Fuego we gained a much better view of the Lake Fagnano than we had seen on the way down to Ushuaia.

Lake Fagnano

The rain was enough to justify wearing the waterproofs, but never enough to wash away the dust which had accumulated on our clothes and bikes from the final drive to the End of the World two days before.  With just an occasional light drizzle the dust turned to a muddy veneer which later when the rain stopped, cemented itself to both surfaces….I need a laundry and a bike wash!!  The last 20 miles along the coast exposed us once again to fierce head and side winds which with passing trucks created a very unstable ride to our destination.

Arriving in Rio Grande and taking more notice than on our prior brief traverse, it is clear that this is town is based around a very large military installation with barracks, married quarters and enough military memorabilia as street furniture to indicate its prominence. But it is also clearly a tourist destination of sorts with apartments and attractive houses lining the sea front.  Though I suspect that there is rarely, if ever a time when one can swim in the sea between the cold water and the strong South Atlantic winds.  Nevertheless, a stroll along the well-constructed promenade was a refreshing way to finish the day.

Sea front prommenade - Rio Grande - Tierra del Fuego

Rio Grande – Rio Gallegos: 240 Miles: Argentina-Chile Argentina, dirty and windy

Today was not a long day in distance terms, but was one of the more tiring roads.  Continuing north from Rio Grande, retracing our path towards the Argentina-Chile border, the mountain of yesterday far behind us and now the low, rolling hills diminishing to a gently undulating plain of poor grass over a sandy soil, the road was mostly straight and followed the east coast of Tierra del Fuego.  The wind picked up as the morning wore on and made driving quite tiring.

Tierra del Fuego is divided between Chile and Argentina, so in order to get from the Argentinian territory of the island into the Argentinian mainland, one has to pass through Chile.  So a moderate day in terms of distance involved two border crossings:  Argentina-Chile-Argentina, with a complete set of documentation, official stamps, bike inspections for agricultural produce in Chile etc.  Each crossing took about an hour thus taking time out of the day.

In addition to the border crossings, we also had the same 75 miles of gravel roads between the border and Cerro Sombrero where we had stayed on the way down.  Or it was intended to be the same, but as most dirt roads look very much alike, what was a very clear and well signposted dirt road heading south, was less so heading in the opposite direction and so we made the return drive along a different dirt road which came out about 10 kms north of Cerro Sombrero instead of south.  This would not have been an issue, and in fact may have been to our benefit had it not been for two things: firstly the track which was generally good for all but the last 10 miles, suddenly turned to deep unconsolidated mud and then deep gravel and a temporary detour due to upgrading road works.  One of our riders fell here, but was not injured.  The second was that fuel in this part of the world is quite scarce and with the energy sapping high winds, we planned to stop in Cerro Sombrero to re-fuel, so therefore had to turn back on ourselves.  As it happened the Cerro Sombrero fuel station was closed, thus reducing our tank range even further.  But the alternate road was richer in wildlife and we saw rheas, Llamas, Guanacos, condors as well as the ubiquitous sheep.

Apart from two border crossing and 75 miles of dirt roads, we also had the ferry crossing between Tierra del Fuego and the mainland. Once again the fun of driving the bike down the ramp and on to the ferry which was slowly moving while trying to retain its position with bow thrusters. This foto was taken of me on the way over – thanks David K for sharing it!

Entering the Tierra del Fuego Ferry

The remaining Ruta 3 to Rio Gallegos was a constant battle with the gusting wind constantly pulling us to the side of the road.

Rio Gallegos to Comodorro Rivadavia: 490 Miles: A long day by the coast

Today was a day to move us north by a substantial distance, nearly 500 miles.  Heading inland from Rio Gallegos and its estuary to the Atlantic we then turned north along Ruta 3 all the way to Comodorro Ribadavia.  This area is known as the Pampas and continues the same landscape as yesterday:  flat lying grassy plain, never more than 100-200 metres above sea level with occasionally gently undulating hills culminating in a low ridge, then dropping back into the same landscape from horizon to horizon.  Occasional small herds of Guanaco and Vicuna stood along the side of the road, a suicidal Rhea or two, rabbits chancing the crossing, but apart from that just 500 miles of flat, straight roads all the way.  I was told an Argentinian joke…What is the definition of nothing?  answer – the Pampa!

Our concerns about high winds were unfounded when we had a brisk breeze all the way, but nothing like high force gusts of the past few days.  With a starting temperature of 8C and ending in the mid 20’s and sunshine all day, it was a great day’s ride at 10 hours.

Comodoro Ribadavia – Puerto Madryn: 280 Miles: More of the same

My sleep was disturbed by the 2:30 AM “boy racers” who decided to hold a drag race outside our hotel with 20 year-old small capacity cars, but with all silencers removed from the exhaust system.  Add to this their in-car stereo systems at full power with over-driven base and it was clear that I was not going to make an early start today.

As it was not a long ride and the wind had still not risen to the level we experienced a few days before, I set off into a carbon copy landscape of yesterday immediately rising over a low sandstone ridge and back onto the flat, featureless plain of the pampas.  Today’s challenge was to be fuel and with a fairly stiff headwind for most of the day the fuel consumption was significantly impaired.

The queue for fuel

The recommended fuel stop was lined on both sides with cars waiting up to an hour to fill up.  We were told that we had been lucky to find fuel where we stayed last night since as this was a 4 day weekend and beginning of the school holidays for some, the demand for fuel was much greater.  Deciding that I did not absolutely NEED fuel I carried on and found another fuel station just 35 miles further north which was not only devoid of any cars waiting in line, but also had a choice of fuel grades and excellent coffee…. I assume that the existence of a line at the prior fuel stop created a panic buying sentiment and hence people “topping off” for fear of running out.

We had driven through oil and gas producing areas all day and just 30 miles short of our destination at Puerto Madryn we passed through an oil town.  Stopping once again for fuel the statue in the roundabout was impossible to resist….. two oil men?

Two Oil Men

For most of the drive north from Tierra del Fuego I had seen oil and gas wells producing into tank batteries or low pressure gas lines to treatment and compression stations.  There was also a sign a couple of days ago on the exit from Rio Grande that a methanol plant was planned to be constructed.  The construction dock was already in place.  Judging by the size of the well heads the production volume is modest, and I am guessing each well is measured in hundreds of barrels a day at most.

Arriving at Puerto Mardyn this is clearly a larger city than I had expected.  Established by Welsh settlers in the 1860’s it is now a city of 80,000 inhabitants.  Although it is a tourist town, the largest employer is the aluminium smelting plant, employing 6,000 and then a stone-works processing granite for domestic and export market.  But we were here to visit the Valdes Peninsula and see the wildlife.

Puerto Mardyn: Welsh Whales?

A day off in Puerto Madryn is for seeing whales.  Although it is late inthe season, whales are still to be seen in the two gulfs (san Jose and Nueva) which straddle the isthmus connecting the Valdes Peninsula to the mainland.  Whales come to give birth here in June, raising their young till about 4 months old, then head north to Brazil before heading south again to the Antarctic.  The babies stay with the mother for up to 3 years, learning the ocean routes from them. The primary whale is the Southern Right Whale, weighing up to 50 tons when fully grown, and at around 17 metres in length are pretty impressive.  The young are up to 2 metres in length at birth and can weigh more than a ton.

Using a minivan transfer from the hotel we boarded the inflatable boat in Puerto Pyramides.

Boarding the whale watching boat on the launch trailer

We found the last whales, a mother and calf, about 6 miles or so from the port.  Seemingly this pair was late to migrate because the calf was born late in the season and not yet large enough to survive the long journey.  The males had all left in October.

Southern Right Whale - Valdes Peninsula

Protected in Argentinian waters since the 1960’s, conservationists have identified more than 2,700 individual whales in the Valdes Peninsula by the unique markings each one has of barnacle growths on their skin.  I just wish we had been able to see the larger numbers of whales!

Southern Right whale - Valdes Peninsula

The mother whale seemed quite relaxed with the tour boat just a few tens of metres away and she rolled on to her back with pectoral fins in the air, floating serenely as we watched.

Southern Right Whale floating on her back

Puerto Madryn – Viedma 310 Miles:  Summer is here again

It was warmer this morning when we left Puerto Madryn, at least 15C, and with lighter winds and sunshine, became a very pleasant ride as I headed north.  I was riding alone today as are many of the riders and I suspect as we are nearing the end of the trip we are each savouring the ride in our own ways and while the scenery of the pampas of Patagonia is not very inspiring,  enjoying some personal moments of reflection on all the places we have been, people we have met and diverse climates from the north to the south.

The pampas, as I have remarked before, is essentially a flat plain, just above sea level, and for the last 1,000 miles I have seen perhaps only 5 trees which appeared to be self sown, with others planted around farmhouses or in the villages through which we have passed. The coarse, dry grass and rough bushes about knee high have populated the landscape for 4 or 5 days.  Apart from a few horses, cattle, occasional vicuna or rhea, there is little wild life.

The Pampa near Valdes Peninsula

Stopping for the first fuel stop and finding some excellent coffee it had warmed up enough to shed the riding jacket and don the florescent sleeveless vest I wear over my armour.  I have not worn this for probably 2 months since we left Central America…

Turning east towards Viedma, today’s destination, the landscape suddenly changes.  The scrubby pampas has been cleared and large farms with ploughed fields take their place.  Irrigation from the Rio Negro turns the dry and mostly barren landscape into productive farms, and just as we have seen in many areas, just a little water goes a long way in farming terms.   There are suddenly trees too.  After more than 1,000 miles of no trees at all, there are now trees almost everywhere.

Viedma is a town of perhaps 50,000 people on the Rio Negro.  It is twinned with Carmen de Patagones on the other side of the river, though there are few bridges.  Francisco Viedma built a fort here in the 18^th century to protect and open up the lands to the south, but a major flood washed much of the settlement away, so the opposite bank was populated as it was higher, and hence the two towns.  Carmen de Patagones retains its old charms of cobbled streets and old buildings while the new town of Viedma has wider streets and square blocks.

With temperatures in the low 30’s, a 4 day weekend at the start of the summer holidays and Christmas just around the corner there was a definite buzz to the place today.  People swimming in the river, walking along the bank and no shortage of teenagers cruising along the road with noisy motor scooters.

from Viedma to Carmen de Patagones across Rio Negro

Viedma to Sierra de la Ventana – 280 Miles: Mountains at last?

Viedma was a buzzing little town on the banks of the Rio Negro and within a short (30 kms) drive to the coast.  Last night, as we are approaching the end of the trip I went out for a drink with my roommate, Drew, and as is often the case the bars only start to liven up at after 1 PM.  I was in bed by 1:15 with a long-ish day’s ride ahead.

 

Heading north on the Pampa again, the scenery barely changes as we encounter the same flat, rough grassy plains as before.  After about 200 miles of almost mind-numbingly boring landscape, the hint of mountains appears out of the hazy horizon – The Sierra de la Ventana or Window Mountain in the national park of the same name.  A brief stop in Tornquist, the nearest town, for a cash machine and then on to the resort hotel, el Mirador, for the night.

 

Sierra de la Ventana is so named for a hole in the mountain created I suppose, by wind action against the sedimentary rocks, exploiting a weakness.

Window mountain - can yoju see it?

 

Today was not an inspiring drive but it was nevertheless easy and essentially traffic free.

Sierra de la Ventana – Buenos Aires – 370 miles: Heading to the Big Apple (“BA”)

The Mirador resort was a pleasant, quiet hotel, though the rooms were small.  The restauarnt was good and as the final night before arrival in BA was almopst like a “last supper” experience.

Early morning at the Mirador resort, Sierra de la Ventana

Today is a fairly long day at 370 miles, but the first 100 miles was through low mountains with winding roads and little traffic in the early morning cool temperatures.  Riding along and continuing the reflective mood of the past few days, I was thinking through the highlights of the trip in terms of scenery, riding experience or people I have met who have made an impression on me.  We were to regroup at mile 280 so that we could ride the last 70-80 miles of motorway as a group.  This not only creates quite a spectacle, but also creates a formidable line of large motorcycles to intimidate local drivers into letting us weave in and out of the traffic and arrive at our destination together.  Which is what we did to the Scala hotel in Avenida 9 de Julio, supposedly the widest road in the world!

 

Arrival in Buenos Aires

An obligatory photo, beer in hand, to mark the accomplishment of 23,000 miles of riding the Americas, and it was off to a well deserved shower and later the group meeting to learn the arrangements for the shipping of bikes home.

Traditional celebration of 23,000 miles of the Pan American

 

The end of the journey is a bitter sweet experience.  After nearly 5 months I am ready for some rest, but at the same time I am not yet tired of discovering new parts the world or meeting new people.  My experience on this trip has been very positive.  A Saturday drive with the bike club will still be enjoyable but does not come close to the experience of the past few months.

My last post as I enjoy a few days of rest in Buenos Aires will be somewhat reflective.  To all who have followed by journey through the blog, thank you for sharing it with me.  If you would like to send me any questions or comments, please feel free at MD@IRConsult.Co.UK or mxh01@hotmail.com and I will try to cover them in the last post of this blog.

 

Ushuaia – The Destination or just the reason for the journey?

 

El Calafate – Torres del Paine, Chile:  200 Miles: Cold, cold wind….That’s Patagonia

 

Since we have been in Patagonia it has lived up to its reputation as being one of the windiest places on Earth.  On a motorcycle it saps your strength as you fight to keep as straight a line as possible, especially through a thin, dirt track surrounded by gravel ridges.  This morning the wind had abated somewhat, and since I prefer to leave early and take a more relaxed pace, there was no doubt I would be on the road as soon as possible even though the measured distance was only 150 miles.

 

The recommended route notes indicated that we had 60 miles or so of gravel roads to cut a corner in the route.  But referring to the map, indicated that by taking a slightly (about 40 miles) longer route we could avoid at least 50 miles of this, and thus only deal with an obligatory dirt road close to the border.  So setting off at 8:30, an hour ahead of the rest, we initially headed east, rising out of the valley floor at just 250 metres above sea level up to 800 metres on the adjacent rolling hills of glacial moraine.  The sun was shining, there was no traffic and all was well with the world.  Cresting the hills and turning south across a higher plateau with no shelter, the wind picked up and became the same gale force buffeting blast from yesterday and every other day we have driven in Patagonia.  The temperature dropped to around 5C (40F) and with wind-chill began to penetrate the very core of the body.  The landscape was not very inspiring, mostly flat but with the snow-capped mountains on the western horizon, rising abruptly above the plateau, clearly visible even though they were still 100 miles away.

 

We continued for the first 100 miles, stopping at la Esperanza for coffee and a fuel top-up cognizant of the paucity of fuel availability in this part of the world.  And to accompany the coffee, an Argentinian specialty, alfajorles.  These are a sweet sandwich type of sweet with a burnt sugar/caramel filling between two sides of flaky pastry.  They are originally Arabic, and also known, but less popular in Spain.

 

Setting off now to the west to catch up with the rest of the group, the wind was now a full headwind of perhaps 40-50mph, making forward motion at any speed a chore.  Any slight deviation from the road direction meant that the wind kept changing the impact on the bike inducing a weaving motion.  When the wind is blowing full strength on one side it has the impact of driving a wedge between the jacket and the helmet and forcing the helmet to rise under air pressure, creating a mild choking sensation with the chin strap.  After 50 miles of this my head and neck were aching from the constant strain.

 

We caught up with the rest of the group at the official fuel stop on the route and then headed towards the Chilean border once again. Immigration and bike import/export documentation taken care of on the Argentinian side we then did he same in reverse on the Chilean side.  As we have seen in many borders the immigration /customs posts are separated by several miles… I wonder who owns the no-man’s land in the middle.

 

The hotel for 2 nights is once again, in the middle of nowhere…..no phone, no internet, and much to the chagrin of some, no nightclubs and dancing girls!  But it is closer to the entrance to the Torres del Paine national park where we plan to go tomorrow.  Dinner choices were…limited…..again….am starting to feel I am being held hostage to some of these “remote, idyllic, locations” which feel free to charge whatever they like as one has no choice.  grumble, grumble, moan, moan!!

Torres Del Paine: National Park: 150 Miles – voluntary dirt road riding?

The Torres del Paine mountains are really quite famous, and I have known at least of their existence for many years.  To get there one has to take a 75 mile circular route through the national park….and another 30-40 miles access at each end…..and all on gravel roads…. and all in the Patagonian gale force winds.

 

Entering Torres del Paine on the gravel road

 

Torres del Paine National Park

So given my obvious pleasure of riding on gravel roads (!!!!) it is a surprise to many that I am actually voluntarily engaging in a 100+ mile drive away from paved roads.  Apart from the intense, cold wind, the “road” is no more challenging than other “roads” we have driven of late, and in fact, is not technically difficult.  The surface is quite corrugated in places which makes forward progress very uncomfortable while you increase speed until the bumpy road is balanced by the clever suspension harmonics and you are bouncing along the tops of the bumps instead of feeling the whole dip.

 

The mountains are indeed spectacular, with glacial lakes, glaciers and waterfalls.

 

Torres del Paine

 

Torres del Paine

 

Salto Grande - Waterfall between two lakes

 

Lago Grey

To finish the day we detoured down to Puerto Natales to look for fuel.  As we have found regularly, fuel is scarce when you are away from big cities, and there are no big cities for hundreds of miles. Puerto Natales is a sea port connected to the Chilean fjord system.  It is a tourist town as well as a working port.  There are restaurants, banks, bars, shops and a nice new hotel overlooking the seashore……so why are we staying in the middle of nowhere just 20 miles way to the north?  Obviously a mental note to provide feedback on location of hotels!!  Tonight a spit roast lamb for all in the hotel…very good, but more red meat just before sleeping is not the healthiest of choices.

Torres del Paine – Cerro Sombrero: 240 Miles: Entering the Land of Fire

Today is the day that we cross into Tierra del Fuego, the “Land of Fire” by crossing the Straits of Magellan.  At only 240 miles and with no border crossing, there was no need to leave very early, but as we have found that the wind picks up during the course of the day, we set off around 8:30.  The Torres del Paine mountains to the right, we once again headed towards Puerto Natales and then south towards Punta Arenas.  By 9:30 the wind had already picked up and the next 100 miles became a battle with the side wind again.  But the road was good, the sun was shining and the traffic was light.  We expected the wind effect to reduce considerably when we turned east towards the ferry terminal for Tierra del Fuego, but the impact was negligible.

 

The lighthouse next to the Tierra del Fuego Ferry

 

The roll-on/roll-off ferry runs a continuous service between the mainland and the island of Tierra del Fuego.  As it approaches each side of the channel it holds itself in position using bow-thrusters against the fast running current without tying up.  This means that driving on to the ferry involves going from a wet concrete jetty to a wet steel ramp which is constantly moving sideways.

 

Tierra del Fuego Ferry

 

The final 20 miles or so to the hotel at Cerro Sombrero (“Hat Hill”), a small hamlet based around an oil field service facility, was again a battle between biker and the wind.  The hotel situated on the outskirts of this village was clean and functional, but was also the only place in town to eat….with a pre-ordered menu of red meat late in the evening….hmmm, my arteries are starting to get clogged!

Cerro Sombrero – Kaiken: 190 Miles: Getting to know Tierra del Fuego

We knew that the first 75 miles of today’s ride would be on gravel roads.  As Cerro Sombrero is the last town on the road to the Argentina border the Chileans probably thought it not worth laying down a paved surface as it was just going to facilitate people leaving! In bright sunshine, but cool, 12C, we set off early to take advantage of the lower morning wind speeds.  Heading south across Tierra del Fuego and for most of the day near or parallel to the east coast, the road was fairly well compacted dirt and gravel, but with enough depth of gravel at times to keep your concentration at a high level.  The “road” was generally flat-to-gently undulating across a grassy plain with what appeared to be low, sandstone hills on the horizon. One of the challenges today was the presence of large trucks coming from the border along the dirt road raising billowing clouds of fine dust as they passed.  For a few seconds the visibility reduced to just a few metres and with gravel ridges lining the hard-packed track I was following, ample opportunity to lose direction.

 

After the border we headed along the coast and passed through Rio Grande.  We will stop here on the way back and it looked like a nice little town.  On the side of the road was a memorial to the Belgrano battle ship sunk during the Falklands war in 1982.

 

Belgrano memorial - Rio Grande

I had seen a couple of small drilling rigs yesterday on our way south. Today there were more and a few small pump-jacks reminiscent of Oklahoma and Texas with adjacent tank batteries.  Yellow plastic low pressure gas flowlines took the gas into treatment and compressor stations and the yellow markers for buried pipelines were visible cutting across the fields.

 

Pump jack and tank for oil production

This was not my mental impression of Tierra del Fuego.  A grassy plain with cattle, sheep and Vicuna spread out across vast estancias, no trees and only low hills dos not conjure up the image of early European explorers looking at the fires of the original inhabitants and naming it “land of fire”.  But perhaps the island was once covered in trees, but long since cut down for firewood and the creation of the large farms.  As we headed south we began to see some evidence of woodland, although the trees such as they were, were stunted and with the kind of tortured trunks that indicates a tough climate.  I was also not expecting to see oil exploration here, but then, nor did I research it ahead of time. It seems fitting that we should start in the oil province of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and end in the oil provide of Tierra del Fuego.

With more than 200 miles driven across the island the plain turned to more gently rolling hills and the small patches of woodland into more coherent forest.  On the horizon slowly arose snow-capped mountain peaks.  With about 70 miles to go to reach Ushuaia, perhaps I will get to see my mental map of Tierra del Fuego fulfilled after all.

 

Our hotel for the night is a cabin resort overlooking a lake, surrounded by mountains in the distance and hills in the foreground.  A stunning location, but once again remote with no choices as to where, when or what to eat…. vast quantities of red meat in the evening with no choice!  Of course, many in the group are quite happy with this arrangement!

Lake Fagnano from Kaiken resort

Kaiken – Ushuaia: 65 (93) miles:  Destinantion or just the justification for the journey?

Today was a short ride, and one taken as a group as far as Ushuaia so that we could look very cool on arrival and also gather for the group photo at the entrance!

 

Arrival at Ushuaia

 

The sun shone through a milky sky, the road was mostly good and traffic was light as we headed to our final destination in the early morning cool of around 10C.     The only reason to come to Ushuaia is to visit the most southerly town in the world (although if you take a ferry you can visit an even more southerly town of 36 inhabitants for the purists).  And so the town, which is bigger than I expected, and very much a tourist location and cruise ship stop-off, justifies itself.

Following through the outskirts of the town towards the National Park we go from paved surface to the 8 miles of dusty gravel road that marks the end of Ruta 3 in Argentina, and the official End of the World sign.

 

"You are here" - at the end of the world!

Having parked the bikes there followed a period of hand shaking, congratulating, a few moist eyes and a little sparkling wine served in plastic cups to mark the occasion.  But reflecting back on the sombre mood at breakfast this morning, there was also a tinge of sadness that the justification for the journey had now been reached, and so, notwithstanding another 2,000 miles to Buenos Aires, the journey is essentially over and 18 months of planning, 18 weeks of riding and 20,000 miles are now just memories rather than expectations.

 

Of course there was a long and not always patient line of people waiting on the chance to have their photo taken with the sign, with the bike, with other people, or in groups.  As my room-mate, Drew had started together, it seemed only fitting to end together too.

 

Drew and I: At the end of the world

 

 

Liz, David and I

 

 

Monica and I

Behind the sign is a boardwalk to the edge of the Bay of La Pataia, and the “End of the World”.

Bahia La Pataia - looking out to sea from the end of the world

 

With all photos taken, all felicitations exchanged the journey back north began with the 8 miles of dusty road.  While the ride to the park was relatively rapid even on the loose surface, the ride out was a little more sedate, not only because we are now on the way home, but also because a tour bus in front was sending plumes of choking and blinding dust into the air preventing any chance of passing on the twisting, narrow gravel road.

 

Our hotel in Ushuaia is modern and overlooking the harbour….at last a place with some life and bars, restaurants etc after one too many “quaint remote places”.

 

 

 

The Final Frontier – Part 2: Patagonia: Carretera Austral and Ruta 40

Bariloche – Futuleufu: 220 Miles: Riding our own ride

Having now made the decision that if a perfectly good paved road will get us to our destination regardless of how much “fun” an alternative, unpaved road might offer, we studied the map last night and found that we could reach tonight’s stopover by using the famous Ruta 40 for most of the way.  The alternative additional 80 miles of gravel and sand, while appealing to those who enjoy that kind of surface, just did not compete for our attention today.

The mountain and lake setting of Bariloche is idyllic and it was a pity that not only did we arrive off season but the enjoyment was further marred by the strong winds and volcanic ash which found its way into everything.  Setting out this morning the road South took us through deep valleys with volcanic peaks lining the heavily wooded flanks and glacial lakes filling the valley floors.  This could be Switzerland, and easily accounts for why the early settlers came from southern Germany and called this their new home.

Leaving Bariloche

Connecting back to the Ruta 40 was 80 miles of delightful twists and turns through mountain-lined valleys on good asphalt roads with only light traffic which was easily passed.  Stopping in El Bolson for fuel we also spotted a sign for “churros”.  These typical Spanish snacks are basically thicj strands of deep fried dough and are traditionally dipped into melted chocolate.  An Argentinian variation is the “submarine” which is hot milk with lumps of chocolate left to melt and frequently stirred to create a milk chocolate drink.

Refreshed and back on the road we left the mountains and headed to the higher elevations, around 1,000 metres, the equivalent of altiplano, and began to deal with the Patagonian wind…again. Although not really cold at 13C, the wind chill from the snow-covered mountains lining the high valley, laden with dampness from the rough vegetation and yesterday’s rain, created a blast that seemed to go right through even the warmest clothes.  I put on my final layer and picked up the pace to get us through this section.

The final section of the day involved a border crossing, and also our only off-road section of the day…it is not of course properly off-road, but just not paved.  Turning off Ruta 40 at Esquel towards the old Welsh settlement of Trevelin, the roads once again start to wind through valleys towards the snow-capped mountains and more than once I caught a glimpse of what looked like volcanic peaks with smoke and ash being emitted into the low grey overcast skies.

Esquel and the smaller town of Trevelin are primarily tourist locations for outdoor pursuits, but also for the agriculture that the harsh climates permits.  From Trevelin towards the border the road turns to quite good hard-packed dirt with stone chippings to fill the ruts.

Gravel road to Chilean Border

On this surface we can average 30-35 mph, although some of our more eager riders managed 60+mph.

Road from Trevelin to Chile Border

The scenery was in fact getting more attractive with the Rio Grande cutting a deep valley through the mountains.

The border post was understandably “rustic” in this remote location, and we were told ahead of time that the most important feature was the cat which seemed to rule the place, sitting anywhere it chose to sit regardless of the functioning of the office.

The Border Cat!

Border formalities dispensed with to our surprise the Chilean side of the mountain pass was paved with good tarmac for the last 6 miles to the Hosteria Rio Grande in the small, sleepy town of Futuleufu.  The hotel was, shall we say, “rustic”, though they did prepare a spit roast lamb and some good Chilean grilled Salmon too.

fresh lamb on the parilla

It rained all night….

Futuleufu to Puyuhuapi: 120 Miles:  The Carretera Austral– A damp introduction

Yesterday’s dirt road was acceptable as dirt roads go…hard packed, obvious gravel and with only minor inclines, curves and with reasonable visibility.  On the wrong side of a short and meaningless relationship with a particularly pleasant bottle of Concha y Toro Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, I managed to make my “brief siesta” last through last night’s route briefing, so really had little idea what to expect today that was not detailed on the route notes.  With no mention of dirt roads I was hoping for some paved surfaces through the Carretera Austral.  We understood that the most challenging roads were the Dalton in Alaska, and then the Carretera Austral and Ruta 40 in Patagonia… we were about to find out why.

The rain persisted from overnight and since the day of 120 miles was very short, I postponed the inevitable departure until around 9:15 hoping beyond reason that the rain would stop.  Packing the bike in the rain and setting off, the paved road turned to dirt within a few hundred metres of the village.  The surface was mostly good, like yesterday, but the overnight heavy rain had turned the hard packed dirt into a less predictable surface, with a slippery veneer of mud. But with the experience of yesterday and increasing confidence in the bike and competence in myself, we maintained a steady 35-40mph through the twists and turns, ascents and descents of the Carretera Austral.  This “road” was built during the Pinochet era initially as a military road, but also to link the remote Chilean farming communities of the south of the country.

Carretera Austral

Making quite good progress, with occasional slower sections where the mud became thicker, or sand filled the ruts, we slipped along for the first 30 miles feeling reasonably comfortable, even accelerating on some gravelly downhill sections where previously I would have been braking!.

Carretera Austral

The rain was intermittent but occasionally heavy and the low cloud obscured the adjacent mountains, though occasionally offering glimpses of snow covered peaks.

The temperature hovered around 14-15C (58-60F) but on exposed corners where the wind managed to whip into a local frenzy, the cold gusts caught us by surprise.

Carretera Austral - Pinochet's legacy

And then things changed.  Crossing a bridge and turning a corner we encountered the dirt rider’s nightmare….the grader  (motoniveladora en Español).   A hard packed surface is quite good, even with a thin mud veneer, but when a grader passes over the top, pushing a bow-wave of loose mud scrapings over most of the road, the impact is immediate and dangerous as there is no grip and with a steep, loose ridge created by the blade of the grader, no way of crossing to the smooth surface which has just been created.  This continued for about 4 miles and re-occurred twice more along the road.

My assessment of most gravel roads that we have taken is that the promised “spectacular” views are rarely fulfilled.  This is partly because I am so concentrated on the road that I cannot look at the scenery, or as per today, the low cloud and rain obscure any view that might be attractive.  But just occasionally you catch a glimpse of something appealing and can even find a place to stop in the gravel road to take the photo.

Carretera Austral

Arriving at Puyuhuapi, a small tourist town on a fjord inlet from the Pacific Ocean, we are staying in Casa Ludwig, a 4^th generation Germanic family home now used as a guest house.  Options for dinner were limited, but this close to the sea, fish was a good option.

Puyuhuapi – Coihaique: 145 Miles: Lupins, Horsetails and the toughest road yet

I was awake for last night’s briefing.  Having survived my first 120 miles of the Carretera Austral dirt road yesterday, I was not overly concerned about today’s comparatively short 35 miles of additional dirt before reaching some new black-top paved surface.  But the briefing served to stifle any complacency that may have started to set in.  The co-leader had travelled this road just a few months ago, in summer I might add, and described the road as a “technically challenging”.  To describe a road as “technical” means that the rider is expected to stand on the foot pegs, throw his/her body in any direction required to re-balance the weight in order to counter-act the effects of steep inclines, steep descents, deep, rutted surfaces, rocks, pot-holes, mud, etc.. etc…

It has now been raining for 36 hours without a stop.  It rained all night and the thought of the technically challenging road in addition to the rain gave rise to at least a little foreboding.  Setting off at 09:15 the road turned to dirt in less than 50 metres on leaving the village. But the route around the fjord was mostly flat to begin with and the gravel no worse than yesterday.  Settling into a 3^rd and 4^th gear groove at 40-45 mph, weaving around the pot holes and negotiating the gravel ridges between the ruts at a reasonable speed I was happy to see a few miles click away before encountering anything difficult.  The “road” was cut into the foot of the cliff face, and so occasionally suffered from rock falls which reduced the road width to a single track with rocks and loose chips roughly graded into a semi-coherent surface.  The road was deceptive – 100 metres or so of good hard surface followed by 50 metres of deep pot-holes preventing any real speed being built up or indeed confidence.  Occasional section of deep sand had been graded into the surface, but the constant rain had made this hard enough not to grab the front wheel and throw out the balance.

And then the world changed.  Moving away from the fjord coastline we began to rise up through a series of tight hair-pin bends, gravel covered with rocks protruding through just out of sight of the approach track so guaranteed to catch you out just when you have chosen a preferred line through the blind bend.  Several people dropped their bikes on this section which lasted almost 8 miles through narrow tracks between the cliff face and a deep drop obscured by dense green foliage.  Recently graded deep, wet mud added to the “fun”, especially when encountered just before a tight bend adding some rear-wheel weaving to the approach and just a few missed heart beats!  At mile 28.5 the road flattened out and then began to descend in a similar manner, so the controlled up-hill section changed to a gravelly downhill, twisty section with equal challenges of hairpin bends with uneven rocks.

Reaching the tarmac after 35 miles we took a well-deserved break, in the continuing driving rain, with the thought of dismounting and kissing the tarmac inpapl style crossed many riders’ minds!  The remaining miles were covered fairly quickly though the continuing driving rain and gale force winds made driving fairly hairy at times. The scenery, now that we could at least relax for a few seconds to look at it, was mountainous occasionally breaking out into a broad valley with sheep and isolated cattle farms.  The green, lush landscape with broad leafed ferns, dense trees and thick grass certainly indicates that the rain we have experienced must be a prevalent feature of this area.

Two plants caught my eye:  We had noticed along the side of the road an increasing number of wild Lupins.  Now as we entered the narrow valley floor between the adjacent mountains, great swathes of Lupins now bathed the landscape in a purple hue.

Lupins everywhere

The second plant to catch my eye was the Horsetail fern.  This is one of the plants which you learn about in Palaeontology as being one of the oldest plants on Earth and present in the fossil record.  As we continued our long, wet ride to Coihaique, we also passed through some exposed coal measures in some of the road cuttings.  Horsetail ferns would certainly have contributed in the past to the formation of these coal beds, although in the carboniferous period when the coal was being formed in swamps, the ferns would have been tens of metres high.

Horsetail ferns

The cabins where we are staying are located next to a raging torrent, the Rio Simpson.  It is still raining…..and we were pleased to have arrived safely even if our motocross boots were filled with water.  I understand that the dirt road this morning was the hardest that we are likely to encounter in terms of intense technical riding.  Many bikes were dropped, especially on the tight, gravelly corners, but at low speed, damage to bike and rider was negligible.  I was happy to have not been one of the dropped bikes, and although I did not enjoy the dirt riding, I did have a certain sense of accomplishment at having completed a tough day with the shiny side up.  Or more precisely, the very muddy side up!

Coihaique to Puerto Guadal: 170 Miles:  Carretera Austral

It rained all night….now 72 hours of constant rain.  The whole countryside is under water and the rough track from the cabins to the main road is a morass of brown slime.  The narrow suspension bridge linking the cabins to the main road is also a challenge as the wooden slats are slippery too.  Donning all the layers for warmth and rain that I brought with me, we set off south, skirting the edge of Coihaique, such that I never did see the town, apparently the second largest on the Carretera Austral.  I enjoy a rustic location from time to time, but to have an option to walk around and know a new location would have been preferable.

Leaving in gentle rain we started on the first 60 miles or so which as tarmac until Cerro Castillo.  Gently rising from a few hundred metres to almost a thousand, the road was good quality and with enough twists and turns to make it an enjoyable ride, especially as the rain began to die out and a weak sun tried to poke fingers of light through the clouds creating a rainbow.  As we approached 1,000 metres the snow-capped mountains which had accompanied us on both sides now narrowed to a valley head.  The snow line was a hundred metres or so below the level of the road, but for the most part the road itself was clear of snow, with only some slushy patches in the areas where the road remained in shade.

Carretera Austral

There was no real hurry as not only was the day relatively short at 170 miles, but also because after yesterday, no-one was really eager to get back on the kind of dirt roads we had yesterday.  But the inevitable cannot be postponed for ever, and after a little more than an hour of riding twisty mountain roads we arrived at the end of the hard top surface.

The first part of the dirt road was probably the toughest, and in many respects like that of yesterday.

River cutting through Carretera Austral

Narrow, winding, steep, gravelly with rocks poking through the surface on tight corners, and a speed-sapping corrugated surface that made it hard for the rear wheel to get traction.  I should mention here perhaps that this was partly my fault.  The BMW R1200 GS Adventure is not only a very robust bike, but also quite sophisticated.  The suspension can be adjusted with the press of a button giving you much more travel on rough surfaces…. I remembered that.  But also the ABS and Traction Control can equally be adjusted for off-road use by the touch of a button.  If the traction control is left “ON” then every time the rear where starts to spin on a loose surface, so the power is reduced to the wheel.  I am only just now beginning to feel more at ease with the rear wheel spinning and a strange sense of floating across rough surfaces not unlike the feeling of water skiing and jumping across the bow wave and wake for the first time.

After 10 or so miles of very rough surface the road levelled out, just like yesterday, and we were happily slipping along the gravel at 40-50 MPH.  I can never admit to enjoying the off road experience, but settling into a 3^rd and 4^th gear pace, standing on the foot pegs and letting my body balance the bike into the bends at least gives one the satisfaction of knowing that the effort  put into the off-road skills course was not wasted.

Road to Puerto Guadal

And so it continue for most of the day except for two stretches where the grader had been at work again and left a 2 foot high ridge of loose mud in the centre of the road which you had to cross to make progress.   Finally arriving at Lake Buenos Aires, no relevance to the city of the same name, the spectacular views of the mountains lining the lake made the journey almost worthwhile!

Carretera Austral to Puerto Guadal

Tomorrow more dirt and a long day…..

Lake Buenos Aires

The road - Deep ruts and gravel ridges to the horizon

Puerto Guadal – Estancia La Angostura: 310 Miles –Carretera Austral and Ruta 40

It was a long day.  Although 300 miles is not huge, the inclusion of an estimated 180 miles of dirt, and a border crossing made for a significant distance.  Starting immediately on dirt roads, the circumnavigation of Lago Buenos Aires continued.  This is a huge lake and after 100 miles we were still running alongside.  It was not supposed to be a tough ride but when one is dealing with dirt roads they can change not just between seasons but between days depending on the weather and the road works to maintain the surface.  Today was difficult, and for me perhaps the most difficult we have dealt with so far. The “road” runs alongside the lake and in parts is cut into the overhanging rock face, and single track.  With steep inclines and descents, covered in loose rock chippings which accumulate in the dips and tight, twisting corners it was a challenge as great as we had seen so far.  Add to this recently graded loose sand and mud, and the recipe for adventure increases by the mile, exacerbated by the need to maintain a reasonable speed to reach our destination before dark.  The views were indeed stunning.

Puerto Guadal along Lake Buenos Aires

Having felt pleased with myself that I had survived yesterday’s ride with both bike and pride intact, today it was only 6 miles before I was horizontal across the road.  Following a tight, gravel covered uphill corner, I briefly glanced in my mirror to check if my riding partner had made it around, and losing concentration for a split second found myself in deep gravel on the side of the road.  Instinctively I gave it a pulse of throttle, and recovered enough to get back on the road, but then with insufficient forward momentum, laid the bike on its side across the gravel track.  Thankfully, at a slow pace there was no damage to me or bike, and the following bikers helped to put it upright again, ready to move on.

Carretera Austral views

Carretera Austral Views

 

The technically challenging surface continued for 65 miles until we reached Chile Chico where coffee and regrouping occurred.

The border with Argentina was a few miles later and with experience of previous Chile-Argentina crossing, swiftly taken care of.  The road was unexpectedly paved from here for another 100 miles and so our slow pace so far was quickly recovered, although the cross wind was increasing by the minute and making driving a very tiring experience.

I have often observed that borders are set for a reason.  Sometimes a watershed in the mountains, sometimes a river or occasionally a cultural boundary.  Immediately crossing this border, even though it continues around the Lake Buenos Aires, we leave the mountains behind us and we are in a high, gently undulating, semi-desert plain with scrubby grass and large expanses of just sand, not unlike parts of the altiplano in Peru.  After 100 miles the road turned back to dirt, with parts of the new Ruta 40 running alongside, asphalted surface, waiting to be commissioned, teasing us to dare to use it when it was officially not opened.  But the frequent gaps for culverts or bridges not yet completed prevented us from trying.  The dirt road was roughly graded, with deep sections of gravel and occasionally deep sand also.  In places the soft, loose surface turned to fine dust sending clouds of opaque dust up into the air and behind an occasional truck, impossible to pass.  And so it continued for another 120 miles, on and off sections of completed hard top surface between sections of deep and rough dirt until we reached the destination for today, Estancia La Angostura, a working ranch located at the end of about 3 miles of rough dirt track in the middle of nowhere.  Spit-roast lamb, homemade sausage and home grown vegetables washed down with some acceptable wine, and then writing up this blog before an early bed-time.   A hard, but rewarding day and only one minor spill without damage.  I am physically exhausted from riding on rough roads.

Estancia la angostura – El Calefate: 200 Miles: half dirt, no fuel and high winds

The Estancia La Angostura serves to show just how hard living out in the wilderness can be.  The nearest “town” is about 200 miles away so they have to be pretty self-sufficient in just about everything. Sheep and cattle seem to be the main economic activity, but also increasingly adventure tourism with some trekking and horseback riding thrown in to savour the “frontier” lifestyle on the way to some other out of the way place.

Estancia La Angostura - Old Wagon

Talking of out of the way.  Yesterday’s ride provided a little challenge in addition to the riding for the bikes with the smaller fuel tanks since we had no fuel for the last 245 miles.  For my bike, with a 33 litre tank, this was not a problem.  But today, the nearest fuel on route is at nearly 100 miles away on gravel roads.  Again for my bike, 345 miles is not a problem, but with the first 100 miles of rough gravel road, strong, in fact gale force, side and head winds, the fuel range is sure to be affected….assuming of course that they have fuel.

Ruta 40 Patagonia - rough roads

I mentioned that I arrived physically exhausted yesterday.  This was primarily as a result of riding along the Ruta 40 gravel road.  Each “road” has its own characteristics.  While some sections of Ruta 40 are now smooth, pristine tar, the section we travelled today was the original rough road, in places deeply rutted and with rock chippings and loose gravel.  As they are in process of upgrading some parts of this section, even the Ruta 40 itself is bypassed by an even more roughly bull-dozed detour while the main “road” is being fixed.  The main challenge is to keep to the wheel ruts of the buses and trucks that use the road because these are more compacted and provide better and more predictable grip.  But these tracks are usually only the width of 2 wheels, or about 80 cms…or more precisely, 40 cms on each side of your front wheel.  The deep ridges of gravel on each side of each wheel rut is often 10-15 cms high and almost impossible to cross as it is unconsolidated and grabs the front wheel out of your grip.  With a 50 mph side wind, it is a constant battle to keep the bike between the adjacent gravel ridges and you are always squirming in and out of the rut, with the bike leaning over at 10-15 degrees into the wind just to stay in a “straight” line.  Corners provide another opportunity for wipe outs as the ruts all seem to intersect in spaghetti of smaller tracks with a thin layer of gravel over the whole surface, but also collecting in deeper ridges ready to catch you out if you go into the rut “too hot”.   I had three heart-stopping moments today with the bike out of control and heading sideways down the track, but each time the technology and knobbly tyres somehow managed to keep me upright.  After 60 miles and two hours of fighting gravel and side winds I just had to stop for a “concentration break” having been focused on the 50 metres in front of the bike..  A 15 minute break to re-focus and appreciate the scenery and then back to work!.

Patagonia - Ruta 40

Remote parts of Argentina seem to suffer from fuel distribution challenges such that in the past three days and 440 miles, there has only been one fuel station, and it had no fuel!  For some of the bikes, mine included, we managed to sneak into Calafate on fumes with less than 20 miles left on the range computer.  For others, the reserve fuel supply in the support van was used up fairly quickly.  The answer in these circumstances is to go into any house or village we come across, of which there are very few, and ask if they have some they are willing to sell.  Because of the shortage, people tend to keep a reserve, and sometimes they are willing to part with some either because they take pity on us, or because they can sell it at any price they name as there is no choice.

The first fuel station in 245 miles and it has no fuel!!

El Calafate – Rest Day: Laundry, bike wash and Perito Moreno Glacier

Today was a day to catch up.  But also after the past 3-4 days of long, off-road sections, some bike maintenance and personal maintenance was in order.  I took my bike for a wash, clothes to the laundry and then drove the 80kms to see the Perito Moreno Glacier.  This is interesting in that it is apparently one of the few glaciers still growing, and the snout blocks the intersection of two lakes.

Perito Moreno Glacier

Occasional breaking off of the snout causes the lake levels to suddenly equalize with a gush of water.  Pretty impressive.  I have always been fascinated by glaciers and never fail to be impressed by the sheer size.  These are Mother Nature’s Sculpting processes, modifying the landscape and carving deep, U-Shaped valleys through the mountains.  The Geomorphologist in me is happy!

Perito Moreno Glacier

 

Leaving Perito Moreno Glacier

 

The fourth and final section: Patagonia – Part 1

Santiago – Salto de Laja: 310 Miles – The Pan American Autopista

Today was not intended to be an enthralling day, simply a day to move us South 300+ miles.  Leaving Santiago as a group of 18 bikes in cool, damp and cloudy conditions we made our way quickly through the morning rush hour to the central motorway and turned South on the Pan American, Ruta 5.

Pan American - Chilean style

The immediate surroundings are dominated by vineyards, vegetable and fruit farms on an industrial scale, presumably to serve the needs of Santiago.  We moved on under grey skies with the ever present threat of rain.  Although the temperature hovered between 13-15C (55-60F), the damp conditions and wind made it feel cold and unpleasant, requiring the donning of waterproofs just to keep the wind out.  After 60 or so miles the adjacent fields turned to woodland and several wood processing plants making timber building materials, palettes, etc.  It was getting noticeably cooler also as we headed south.  Stopping for fuel and coffee the scenery changed to bright yellow rape seed plants extending to the horizon.

Rape Seed fields to the horizon

Our destination for the day was Salto de Laja, a small settlement built up around a picturesque waterfall with nothing else but open countryside for miles.  On close inspection the waterfall was the product of a lava flow covering the softer sandstone.  As the softer rocks are undercut by the water’s force, so blocks of the volcanic rock break off into the valley floor below.

Salto de Laja

The cabin based resort overlooked the waterfalls and incorporated within the grounds a 9 hole golf course.  Resembling a ploughed field, the 9 holes provided a relaxing challenge, more so because the bag of rental clubs contained a driver and 3-wood (ideal for a par 3!!), a 7 iron, and a child’s 7 iron, as well as a putter.  So the entire course was tackled with the 7 iron and the putter with every stroke being adapted to suit the club in hand.  Later dinner was taken in the resort restaurant, being entirely adequate, though hardly memorable.  Perhaps the two bottles of wine softened the memory!

Salto de Laja – Pucon: 200 (270) Miles:  Dirt, what dirt?  Making the right decision

Today was a rare day of optional routes.  Since the support vehicle can only follow one route, when an alternative is offered then one of the two routes will be unsupported.  Following yesterday’s “boring” ride along the motorway, today was offered as a more “exciting” ride with 80 miles of dirt, gravel, sand, rock and, unexpectedly…snow through the “interlagos” road – the Chilean lake district.  The “boring” alternative was to continue on the Pan American, leave on the highway 199 to our destination at Pucon, and see very much the same scenery of volcanoes and lakes, but from a paved road surface, not a dirt road.

The decision was easy, and took about a nanosecond to determine …. Guess which one I chose?  I don’t voluntarily do dirt, only when an obligatory part of the route.  Setting off from Salto along Ruta 5, the Pan American, the driving was easy with fairly light traffic and good road surfaces.  Adopting a more “sports” stance on the bike, with cool, dense air and only a few hundred metres above sea level, the bike was running very well, especially after a recent service in Santiago.    The performance-sapping high altitude rides often makes one forget just how powerful these bikes are when given a chance on good road surfaces, and so the 200 miles of motorway were dispensed in less than 3 hours of relaxed, but spirited riding.

Between Pucon and our destination we rode through a section of dense Spanish Broom (Spartium?).  The intense yellow flowers and strong scent created a feast for the senses lining both the roadside and the valley over which we passed on a narrow bridge.

Spanish Broom along the valley sides near Pucon

The destination being reached by around 12:30, we rode up the mile long gravel path to the Mirador de Volcanes resort on a hillside overlooking a spectacular lake and volcano vista, although somewhat obscured by low cloud which had persisted all day.  Realising that the resort does not serve lunch we unpacked the bikes and returned to Pucon, the nearest town.  This is a tourist town built on the side of a volcanic lake offering not only pleasant surroundings, but also water sports and thermal springs in several directions bearing testimony to the presence of volcanic activity.  Instead of going to a restaurant for lunch, especially as tonight was a group meal at the resort, we opted for a visit to the supermarket for fresh bread, local cheese, ham, salami and two bottles of really quite good wine.  Feeling slightly guilty at having had such a good day and arriving early, in addition to our lunch we also bought beer, wine and snacks to greet the weary travellers who would later arrive having undertaken the off road section.

The off-roaders arrived at around 5PM, a full 4 hours after us.  Tales of deep snow, closed roads, several having fallen off their bikes in steep, rutted bends convinced us that we had made the wise choice to take the highway.  And on top of that there were no tales of stunning scenery, so I guess that we missed very little and gained quite a lot in terms of time, tranquillity and wear and tear on the bikes and ourselves…. A good choice.

Tomorrow, no such choice of route according to the route notes…100 miles of gravel and sand packed roads to San Carlos de Bariloche….and maybe some snow too…I can hardly wait!

Pucon to San Carlos de Bariloche:  220 Miles:  Choices?  And volcanic ash clouds.

Today was one of the best riding days I have had, not because of any one specific riding experience or stunning landscape, but just the collection of events during the day.  Our resort last night was one of the better locations we have stayed on the trip.  The 3 bedroom/2 bathroom cabins were located on a hillside overlooking volcanoes and a volcanic lake.  Each cabin had a master bedroom/bathroom (which having arrived early, I claimed for me!) and in the common kitchen/dining/lounge area a wood burning stove which I lit.  My bedroom had another wood burning stove which served not only to dry my daily clothes washing, but also keep me toasty warm all night!!

Mirador de Volcanes resort near Pucon: View from my window

Leaving at 8:30 we set off towards the Argentina border, some 50 miles away.  After 30 miles of excellent road winding up through the mountains to the border post the road signs read “zona de curvas peligrosas y pendientes Fuertes” or Area of dangerous curves and steep gradients…. A few hundred metres later the second sign reads “Fin de calzada” or End of paved surface.  Immediately the road turned to deep gravel, tight hairpin bends and steep gradients. Engaging second gear, standing on the pegs and concentrating hard we negotiated the first few miles until the road levelled out into a high plateau where we found the Chile immigration post. Documents stamped we hen moved to the Argentinian post and did the reverse, entering ourselves and then the bikes into Argentina one more time. As we have seen before, the Chile-Argentina process is relatively straightforward and the desks are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 which are followed in sequence to get all the stamps, forms and formalities of entry.  The Argentinian dirt road was smoother than the Chilean equivalent which had been rutted, an occasionally washboard surface and with deep gravel in sections.  Stepping up to third and fourth gear we moved along at 40-45 mph rather than the 20-25mph on the other side.   After about 35 miles of rough surfaces the road once again turned into smooth asphalt surface and one has to ask why they did not finish the job?

And so we continued, with the promise of only 60-70 miles more of dirt later in the day.  Following the route notes we deviated off the main road to a smaller regional road and across a river, while the satellite navigation system told me to continue on the main road. While stopping for fuel just inside this road I took the chance to look at more detail at the map and realised that the purpose of taking the smaller road was to “enjoy” a long section of dirt road along a lake shore.  But the map clearly indicated a good main road to the same destination, along the opposite bank of the lake/river.  Emboldened by our wise decision yesterday to avoid the dirt unless absolutely necessary we sent a message to the leader to say we were taking the alternate route.  Although unsupported should we have a mechanical breakdown or accident, the choice between twisty mountain roads with good views or dirt tracks with similar views was compelling, so we returned to the main road and enjoyed some of the best riding so far with sever4al challenges.  We also officially entered into Patagonia.

Entry to Patagonia

Patagonia extends from the 39th parallel to the Straits of Magellan and was so named by Fernando de Magellanes the Portuguese sailor during his 1520 voyage to South Amercia under service to hte king of Spain to find a route to the pacific around the tip of South America.  Encountering the local indians, the Tehuelche tribe, he noticed that they naturally had large feet, which in derogatory Spanish would be Patagones…hence Patagonia or the land of the big feet.

We were told to expect high winds in Patagonia, and almost immediately encountered them.  Strong, gusty winds that seem to come from several directions at the same time.  Also cold and damp.  Sometimes leaning at ridiculous angles while riding in a straight line to counteract the strong side wind, only to be blown half way across the road with a gust from the opposite direction.  It was actually fun to do this, especially around the twisty mountain roads.  To our right was a large lake gradually opening up from a river and probably a reservoir, though we did not see any dams.  The landscape resembled the altiplano (high plains) that we had seen in Peru in some respects with an essentially flat valley floor with mountains fringing the low lying areas, often with snow caps.  But now we are at 1,00 metres above sea level, not 4,000 metres.  Being mid-late spring and now at 40 degrees south, the snow lingers for longer.

In the distance we could see that the visibility was diminishing quickly.  With the strong wind it was unlikely to be fog or mist.  And above the opaque, white lower elevations the sky was essentially cloud free, so rain was also ruled out at the cause of reduced vision. Approaching at 60-70 mph, playing with the cross winds, the cause became clear as it was a dust storm, whipped up by the strong winds over the sandy semi-arid valley floor.  But this was no Saharan dust storm as we used to see in dry season in Nigeria, nor the kind of sand storm which would occasionally engulf Riyadh when we lived in Saudi Arabia.  The white, fine dust was blanketing the surrounding countryside in snow-like drifts resembling a winter scene.  It became obvious that this was volcanic ash from the Puyehue volcano which began to erupt in June and is still blowing ash even now.  At times the visibility was reduced to just a few metres making driving quite hazardous along the winding mountain roads with heavy truck traffic in both directions.  Geologically this was a fantastic opportunity to see the actual deposition of a layer of volcanic ash which up until now I had only studied in rock exposures and which I had seen for much of the trip through Central America in road cuttings.  Now to see it actually in the process of formation was a real bonus.

Ash layer on side of Ruta 40 from Puyehue Volcanic eruption

Ash cloud over the lake

But of course there was a downside.  The volcanic ash is in fact a very fine powder of volcanic glass which permeates everything.  Soon my eyes were beginning to scratch and breathing in the fine dust made me sneeze.  With visor closed and bandana tightly wrapped around my mouth we battled the wind, dust and traffic for more than two hours and more than 100 miles of choking ash clouds until emerging on the other side close to the city of San Carlos de Bariloche, the winter ski resort, summer water sports resort and mid-season…..who knows what?  Tomorrow I’ll find out.

San Carlos de Bariloche – Rest day

When we arrived yesterday the wind was blowing at gale force over the lake, driving white capped waves towards the shoreline.  It was not really raining, but water droplets whipped up in the stiff breeze gave the impression of a fine mist.  It rained overnight, and the volcanic ash suspended in the lower atmosphere was precipitated out, leaving every surface coated in a fine whitewash.  Waking this morning the wind had not subsided though the sky was clearing of the grey clouds of yesterday.  The dust and sand was everywhere and even the shortest walk along the shoreline left our mouth full of fine sand and hair in a wind-tangled mess of damp sand.

Bariloche looking over the lake shore to volocanic ash cloud in mountains opposite

Needless to say my walk to see Bariloche this morning was fairly brief.  The shoreline along to the main square and then in two parallel roads to catch the main streets.  Bariloche is well known for skiing in winter and water sports in the summer.  But now we are mid-season, neither winter nor summer and the ash cloud has caused the airport to be closed for some months which has diminished the number of tourists even further.  Judging by the closed down businesses I am assuming that the ski season was significantly impacted by the ash cloud as the only other way to get here is by tourist bus, perhaps as many as 24 hours’ drive from Buenos Aires, or 5 hours from Neuquen.

Civic Centre - Bariloche

The impression is of a typical tourist ski or seaside town out of season.  The architectural style is very Germanic or Swiss with lots of exposed wood and chalet style buildings.  The original settlement I understand was populated by German immigrants which accounts for the building styles.   The majority of the tourists appear to be retirees, wrapped up against the biting cold wind, sheltered in café’s or aimlessly walking around the tourist shops selling identical sweaters, gloves, tee-shirts, leather goods or hats.  But Bariloche is also famous for its chocolate tradition and there are many chocolate shops also.  I can imagine the city as a buzzing tourist place in high season, but right now it is a little subdued.

Like just about every building we have seen in Bariloche, the cathedral is also new, dating from the early 1990’s and constructed in concrete with local rock cladding for a more rustic appeal. Although the concrete structure is exposed throughout the building, the simplicity of the form and the bright stained glass windows are nevertheless attractive. I was speaking with a local resident during lunch and she told me that when she came to live here 23 years ago, the city was just three blocks square…it has certainly grown since then.

Bariloche Cathedral

Bariloche Cathedral - Interior

 

 

The road to Santiago de Chile and a few days of rest

Catamarca – Villa Union: 275 Miles: Monotony followed by dirt

Today seemed somewhat contrived.  What do I mean by that?Yesterday’s drive through a geologically and visually stunning landscape prior to arrival at the hotel, and indeed, all on good road surfaces, was an unexpected pleasure.  Today created a certain level of expectation as it promised a “spectacular dirt road through red rock valleys”, the Cuesta de Miranda. As regular readers you will know that I am not a fan of driving on dirt, gravel, sand or rocks, but if the landscape is stunning, or the route demands it, then I will make the effort.

Today’s ride involved passing obliquely from the valley in which Catamarca is located, across two other valleys and arriving at Villa Union for a distance of about 275 miles, of which 15 miles were rough dirt roads through the Cuesta de Miranda.  It seemed to me that the route and non-descript stops were chosen solely for the purpose of riding a short off-road section. So while I realise that many of our riders are avid off-road addicts, for me it was an unnecessary detour.  Though it has to be said that I had not researched any other, potentially more interesting route that might have avoided the dirt section, so I will stop whining!!

Leaving Catamarca on Ruta 38 and then turning onto Ruta 60 on flat-to-undulating roads across a wooded valley we climbed out of this valley into the adjacent valley. Yesterday I had noticed that each valley, although seemingly similar, had its own unique character.  Sometimes fertile and intensively worked for agriculture as we saw yesterday with tobacco drying sheds, wheat, etc, but then the next valley would be semi-arid, scrubby desert with almost no agricultural activity. The next valley, in Catamarca for example would be wooded.  Perhaps this is indicative of the proximity of the water table to the surface, or perhaps an issue of land ownership and investment in agro-economic development.  In some valleys the intensive agriculture would abruptly stop where the irrigation stopped, and change immediately to a barren desert.  I have become increasingly aware of the marginality of land without water, and the challenge of feeding my 7 billion fellow humans on this planet.

Over the ridge into the next valley

Passing over the ridge from one valley to another we encountered a large irrigation scheme feeding agriculture for a part of the valley floor (above).  The next valley over was largely semi-arid, stunted trees with low density, but with yellow grass at the end of the dry season indicating that at least at some time there is water available.  We are also getting into the area where we are encountering more and more gullies set into the road surface to accommodate rapid and high volume run-off from flash floods in the mountains lining the
valley.  The frequency and depth of these concrete gullies as we progress through the day and quite clearly there is a substantial volume of water flowing through these conduits and across the valley when it rains hard.  We had seen a photo of a previous bike group wading thigh deep in a raging torrent of mud and debris in one of these gullies back in February.  A few goats, a few donkeys, and occasional cattle, but apart from that little of consequence to note on the straight, flat, monotonous ride across the valley…although the increasing frequency of the gullies did lead to a roller-coaster type ride for some of the journey and broke up the monotony to some degree.  In one part I noticed smoke rising from the land adjacent to the road, and thinking it might be burning off the stubble from an earlier crop, I looked closer.  But in fact, typical of many small towns in developing copuntries, it was just a local refuse dump where the detritus of human waste is burned in a communal pit.

Just prior to the Cuesta de Miranda we took a rest stop at a roadside roast chicken take-away shop, and enjoyed some home-made empanadas. Seeing our bikes, others of the group also stopped, and within 20 minutes or so we had a half dozen riders all sampling the delights of spit roast chicken and chunky fried potatoes.

The Cuesta de Miranda started on paved roads, slowly deteriorating until we reached the unpaved section which curled its way up the canyon, clinging to a sheer cliff face, barely one lane wide.  With a mixture of hard-packed dirt, gravel filled ruts and occasional patches of deep sand on the corners, it was not a difficult ride, but the absent, or low wall alongside the steep drop into the abyss meant that concentration was required for the entire 15 mile section.  Initially rising up several hundred metres, then levelling before dropping again it provided some interesting moments.  I don’t know which I like the least….up or downslope on loose, gravelly surfaces. Just before reaching the excellent tarred surface at the other end (why did they not continue??) there was a section of flat, but deep gravel for a few milescausing the back wheel to sqirm and slide while I put the weight on the front wheel by standing up and leaning forward.  Geologically the red rock canyon was not interesting being mostly flat lying sandstone.  The canyon was not large and the views, although pleasant were not as “spectacular” as promised.  I think perhaps the deep red colour was the draw rather than the landscape per se.

A few miles later and we were in Villa Union, a non-descript, sleepy little town, and we were staying on the outskirts….The hotel, restaurant and facilities were all adequate and we planned the next day and an early start after an average meal.

Villa Union to Uspallata:  365 miles: Monotony continues, lunch was the highlight, and another non-descript town.

My account of yesterday’s ride would indicate that it was not memorable.  Today’s can hardly be counted as more memorable, other than a thoroughly enjoyable, if brief, excursion into Mendoza for lunch.  The mostly flat semi-arid landscape continued, though with the constant tease of mountains hazily flirting with us in the valley margins. The road once again punctuated with concrete gullies set deeply into the tarmac surface indicated that flash floods must be pretty spectacular in the rainy season.  Frequent road-sign warnings warned of not driving into water…… so I guess that it must get pretty intense at times even if they are short-lived events.

The distance today was substantial but not huge, and the road was not difficult, but at 365 miles it demanded an early start.  We set off at a brisk pace and were able to maintain a steady 60-70mph in sunshine and temperatures of 20-30C all day.  By 1:30 PM we had accomplished 280 miles and decided to reward ourselves with lunch in Mendoza.

We had noticed since Catamarca the presence of vines growing alongside the road.  With irrigation in semi-arid climates vines seem to do very well, and as Mendoza is a very well-known wine producing region, the increasing presence of vineyards was evident.  My riding partner, Monica had visited Mendoza two years ago while climbing the tallest mountain in the Americas – Aconcagua –  located just to the West.  She had a strong recommendation for a restaurant in town, which being located just a few miles from our route and on account of our having made good progress during the day, we decided to follow the recommendation being joined by a couple from Holland, Alan and Margaret.  The location, food, service and wine were all as good as she remembered and was the highlight of the day.  Our destination for today, Uspallata, sadly meant limiting our wine intake so we set off around 4 for the small town located near to the Chile border and used as a base during skiing season for the slopes in the area.  But our brief excursion into Mendoza led to our asking ourselves why we had not stopped in the vibrant, well laid out city in preference to the sleepy little village just 60 miles down the road.  Mendoza is on my list of places to come back to…..although I neglected to mention that we were stopped by a police patrol on our way in, and warned about street crime and the advice not to stop en route to the centre…we saw nothing of this and were favourably impressed by the city.

The final 65 miles or so were through gently rising roads into the mountains forming the border with Chile.  This is clearly an important cross border road and the truck traffic began to increase significantly.  Working our way through the truck convoys along the winding roads, we then had a sudden, heavy but brief rain shower.  We arrived an hour and a half later, at the little town of Uspallata, just a little damp but otherwise happy to have the 365 miles behind us.

It rained just after we arrived and fairly constantly for most of the night…. Which on the surrounding mountains through which we were about to pass the following day, was of course a fresh layer of snow on all the peaks.

Uspallata to Santiago: 150 Miles:  Back to Chile, snow
on the mountains and a winding road

The 365 mile journey yesterday followed by a mere 150 miles today somewhat reinforced my view that Mendoza would have been a better solution to stop the previous night, with a good supply of good restaurants, a pleasing downtown area and plenty to see. But nevertheless someone must have decided otherwise for a good reason…perhaps they listened to the police warnings too?

Fresh snow on the mountains between Argentina and Chile

The fresh snow on the higher elevations sent a cool wind down the valley we are about to follow to the border with Chile.  Rising from 6,000 feet or so to above 10,000 feet the air began to feel cold quite quickly. This was exacerbated by the variable, and sometimes fierce wind, blowing into our faces and often making the drive quite a challenge through the twists and turns of the interlocking valley spurs which led to the border.  We stopped to capture a few good vistas, but for the most part just pressed on.  The now defunct Trans Andean Railway ran mostly alongside the road, with occasional bridges across the river.  One place which I thought was very curious was the natural sulphur spring with a geologic arch over the river.  Some buildings had been erected, and abandoned, alongside which indicated perhaps some mining operation at some stage in the past.

Sulphur springs in the river valley near chilean Border

As we passed Aconcagua the mist was such that no good opportunities presented themselves for a photo.  The absence of a good stopping point for the bikes also precluded waiting for it to clear.  As the temperature approached freezing we crested the valley head at the border with Chile.

The border crossing was a little more complicated than our entry from Chile into Argentina.  This was not only because this was a busier border with buses but also the system seemed more complicated, and I am not sure even now just exactly what the process was we had to follow….Desk 1: Exit Argentina with passport, Desk 2 Enter Chile with Bike, Desk 3: Enter Chile with passport, Desk 4: Exit Argentina with Bike…go back to Desk 1 and 2 to get some extra stamps on a piece of paper….(why??) and then go outside for a bike inspection by the agricultural inspector…another stamp on duplicate forms….and then hand one copy in at the exit to the border station,.,.,.and we are on our way.

The Chilean Border - Again

The first mile or so was pretty amazing……a staircase of winding roads snaking down the mountain in which we dropped maybe 2,000 feet in a matter of a mile or so through a sequence of 22 switchbacks before levelling out into a gently sloping valley floor.

Amazing road from Chilean border

We followed the road for another 80 miles or so into the city of Santiago, negotiating our way through the light Sunday afternoon traffic alongside the river and to our hotel. This was a short day and left us in the city by early afternoon.

Santiago: – Rest days, Bike servicing and new tyres

It is hard to believe that we have already covered nearly 7,000 miles since we last serviced the bikes and changed tyres in Bogota and Medellin in Colombia.  We have covered over 30,000 kms since we started.  But the odometer does not lie and so we are once again carrying our heavy wallets to the BMW dealer for necessary maintenance, leaving with wallets considerably lighter!  We are also changing tyres for “knobbly” off-road tyres as we are planning to meet the challenge of Ruta 40, the Carretera Austral and Patagonia on our way south to Ushuaia before turning back north to Buenos Aires.

Santiago is a clean, modern, well laid out city of around 6 million people, lyng in the flat plain between mostly volcanic mountain ranges, some of which are snow covered on their summits.  With many options to occupy our time, having dropped the bikes off for service I went to Cerro de San Crisobal, a volcanic hill in the centre of the city, now hosting the zoo and a chapel and statue on the crest.  The funicular is the easiest way to the top.

Statue of he Virgin Mary onthe crest of the Cerro de san Cristobal

The views over the city show the landscape well, with flat lying valley floor and surrounding mountains.  It also shopws the well laid out road system which, togegther with disciplined driving habits of the Santiago inhabitants, maintain a very good traffic flow.

Santiago skyline - multiple volcanic hills and santa Lucia park

Having decided to walk down the hill instead of takin the funicular, with a basic hotel map I found the main square or Plaza de Armas in which the cathedral is located, as well as the main museum. Later on (see below) I returned to the Plaza de Armas for the tribute concert to Violeta Parra.

Facade of Santiago Cathedral in Paza de Armas

The following day, having been informed that the bike was ready, I collected it and went for tyres before returning to the hotel and planning the rest of the day.  This consisted of a walk to the Museum of Fine arts and a concert in the square.  The Museum is a fine building, and I found a special exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Roberto Matta’s birth, a famous Chilean artist.  His style is quite unusual mixing themes and techniques, sometimes resembling Picasso in style (to my untrained eye, at least).

Roberto Matta Work in Museum of Fine Arts

With several galleries of what I consider to be modern art, I was more impressed with the neo-classical building with the interior glass dome  than I was with most of the art contained therein!

Museum of Fina Art - santiago: Inner gallery with glass domed roof

Later that evening I went to the Plaza for the open air concert honouring Violeta Parra, a singer, songwriter and poet of the 1960’s and also communist and political activist.  She committed suicide in 1967, but was recognized as being the proponent of new Chilean music, the “nueva cancion” being a folk, blues, rock fusion.  Her granddaughter sang in the concert.  I noticed that the most;ly student crown with whom I stood shoulder to shoulder for 3 hours were smoking illegal substances all around me and all manner of facial piercings set me aside from the rest by at least 35 years and quantum leaps of cultural identity!

The final two excursions involved firstly a winery tour of the Concha y Toro vineyards followed by a bike ride to the beach near Valparaiso.

Original residence of Don Melchor de Concha y Toro

Don Melchor de Concha y Toro brought vines from Europe to Chile in 1883 and established what is now Chile’s largest vineyard.  The Casilero del Diablo (“the devil’s house”) is a world renowned brand of both table wines and more noble vintages, the premium one bearing the name of the founder, Don Melchor.

The story of the Casillero del Diablo relates to suspected theft of the finest wines by Don Melchor from his private celler for family use.  Praying on the superstitous nagture of the population, he put out the rumour that the devil inhabited the celler, and seemingly it stopped any more pilfering.  If you look carefully at the end of the wine rack on the right, you will see the silhouette of the devil against the far wall.

Casillero del Diablo

The final treat of the day was to make a 150 mile round trip to the coast from Valparaiso south and back to Santiago.  Having found a quiet fishing village and a restaurant overlooking the sea, life could not have been better today……

Pacific coast south of Valparaiso - Life does not get much better

Wrap up:  Santiago and its surroundings have reinforced the positive feelings I had as I entered the country.  The city is an absolute delight to visit, culturally rich, easy to navigate and well maintained.

 

Chile…Argentina…Chile..where are we today? Part 1

Border to Arica

Continuing from Peru, the desert remained dominant in the landscape.  The temperature also continued to be much cooler than I would have expected.  The road was good and progress rapid as we continued, with the sea on our right side, to Arica.  This is a medium sized town with many functions:  As a regional port for commercial and private shipping it seems to be very busy with the port facilities just a block or two from the downtown area and the main square. Also, being close to the border it serves as an arrival point or leaving point for the border and so serves tourist and commercial traffic by road.

From the border to Arica

Immediately entering Chile there is a more European feel, and a new approach to driving habits. The buildings seem more regular and uniform, and the evidence of planning is much greater than in Peru.

The Fuji Mori era of subsidized housing led to the unintended consequence of a more chaotic urban development style which is less evident in Chile from the border onwards.  The level of education is evident in the driving habits also.  It is not the existence of laws which makes for good order, but the obedience to them. Since leaving the USA we have become accustomed to open flaunting of traffic regulations – crossing the double median line on blind corners, exceeding the speed limits, often by more than double…but immediately in Chile we notice a change in attitude to keep, more or less, to the limits and not approach oncoming traffic three abreast with double overtakes!

We stayed in the Hotel Arica Beach resort, just outside of the town but within easy walking distance of about 15 minutes, and overlooking the private beach.  Somewhat faded glory but nevertheless, entirely delightful to fall asleep to the sound of crashing
waves against the sea shore.

Arica – Iquique 200 Miles: Coast – Desert – ghost town and coast

Although I had an immediate favourable impression of Chile, leaving the city this morning and heading inland one comes across a shanty town development nestled in the valley which leads down from the high desert plateau to the city.  From what we can see, this desert plateau, about 2,000 (600 metres) high extends almost to the coastline for hundreds of miles.  Rising rapidly through a series of steep switchbacks, we gain elevation and lose humidity until once again we are in high desert. This tilted plain continues to rise to 4,000+ feet (1,200 metres) and continues at this level  for a hundred miles, occasionally rising and affording long views over barren desert.

Desert plateau

Endless desert

The plateau climbs in a series of steps, and after many miles of long, straight road, suddenly there is a series of tight bends to rise up, or drop down to a new plateau.  As heat and aridity sap the strength and concentration, these can creep up on you suddenly and lead to rapid deceleration to avoid going into the tight bends “too hot”.  One sudden and dramatic feature was the valley de Camarones which dropped from over 4,000 feet to less than 300 feet in a matter of a few twisting miles along the slope of a huge sand dune.  Reaching the bottom afforded spectacular views along the valley.

Climbing out of the Valley of camerones

The valley floor was green with both trees and commercial farming. The water table must be close to the surface.

Taking a side canyon we again started to climb and in no time were back up to 4,000+ feet and once again in hot, arid desert for a hundred miles or so;  the flat, straight road from horizon to horizon once again punctuated by steep bends as the plateau changed on elevation, presumably through some fault guided tectonic movements.

We had been travelling south for some time, in parallel to the coast but a hundred or so miles inland on the high desert plateau, and now it was time to return to the coast.  At the turn there was a recommended stop at an old abandoned nitrate mining town of Humberstone.  Built in the late 19^th century it was worked until 1960 when it was abandoned.  It is now a “time capsule” ghost town and managed as a UNESCO world Heritage site. I walked around and imagined how life would be.  As with many oil camps, the town was very complete and housing and recreation facilities were of a good standard for the time.  They had to be to keep people satisfied in the middle of a vast, dry, dusty desert.

Humberstone - World heritage site

Humberstone

Humberstone

A few tens of miles later we began our rapid, twisting descent down to the coastal town of Iquique. The desert plateau reaches right up to the coast, and Iquique stretches along a ribbon of sand between the plateau and the sea, with only a vast sand dune in between.  The hazy sunshine of the late afternoon and the inability to pull over and stop on the helter-skelter winding road precluded capturing any photos of the dramatic scenery.

Iquique is a large town with a very European feel to it.

Iquique to San Pedro de Atacama: 300 Miles:  Coast, High
desert and a little dirt at the end

Today was a fairly long day at 300 miles, but as it incorporated essentially only 2 roads, and a couple of bends in the middle, it seemed to be a continuous ride.  The first 150 miles was following the coastline to Tocapilla.  The high, sandy, desert plateau from which we
descended yesterday continues to dominate the coastline and the coastal road is cut into the slope of the vast sand dune which drapes up against the plateau.  The day started with grey, dull cloudy skies and a hazy mist over the Pacific Ocean.

Iquique to san Pedro - Coastal desert plateau next to the sea

Other than to say that the coastal road was mostly straight with water on one side and 1,000 metres of sand dune and volcanic ash cliffs on the other, there is nothing else to mention for the first half of the day.  At Tocapilla there is a deep ravine breaching the plateau leading to the ocean.  We turned left into the ravine an immediately started to climb up the valley to the desert floor of the plateau at 1,200 metres (4,000 feet).  Although we enjoyed unbroken sunshine for the entire day, the cool sea breeze or the altitude kept the day fairly cool unless one stopped and no longer had the wind chill effect of the movement of the bike.

As we penetrated further into the desert, the altitude began to increase and what appeared to be a flat plateau of 1,200 metres of featureless sand from horizon to horizon was actually an inclined plain which eventually crested at more than 3,000 metres (11,000 feet) before dropping into the Atacama Desert proper at 2,500 metres (8,000 feet).  There were small mining communities along the road with apparently modern mining techniques and international operators.  The road was good quality asphalt for the entire day and we were easily able to maintain a leisurely 65 mph all day.  As we arrived in the higher Atacama region, the horizon became dotted with volcanoes. The desert floor of sand was also occasionally punctured with protruding volcanic rocks which give rise to the vast sea of sand in which we are sailing!

High plateau of Atacama with volcanic ridge

Just before reaching the tourist town of San Pedro de Atacama we encountered a turn off into the desert leading to “the valley of the moon”.  This is a 10 miles off-road trail through a geologic nightmare of volcanic features which pierce the desert floor and mix lava flows with ash deposits and vast sand dunes all interwoven within a few square miles.

Vast sand dune entering Valley of the Moon near San Pedro de Atacama

Valley of the Moon with Volcanoes in the distance at the edge of the Atacama

San Pedro – Rest day

I don’t know if getting up at 4 AM can be called a rest day, but the bus trip to the Tatio Geyser field began at 5AM pick up, or a full 2 hours before sunrise.  The purpose of this early start was to see the geysers spewing steam and hot water against the early morning cool air.  The road to the geysers was a rough rock and gravel track for nearly 60 miles…in darkness….Arriving at the geyser field, and having risen to over 14,000 feet above sea level into the higher Andes bordering the Atacama desert comprising a series of volcanoes of various stages of dormancy separated by vast sandy desert, the temperature had dropped to -5C or about 22F….quite cold in fact.

The geyser field was in fact quite small, even if it is the “3^rd largest in the world and largest in South America” according to our guide – less than a handful of open holes spilling small quantities of hot water into the air accompanied by similarly small quantities of steam.  And so, only if you go when the air temperature of the early morning is below freezing can you see very much at all.

tatio geyser field

By the time we left, after a “picnic breakfast”, the steam clouds were barely visible.

Adjacent to the geysers was a hot spring at the temperature suitable for bathing, which some of our party did.  With the temperature still around freezing, there was no amount of hot water which would entice me to jump into and emerge into freezing air!

Tatio Hot spring

Leaving Tatio, somewhat disappointed, we went next to a small lake in the middle of the desert fed by volcanic, salty water.  Once again, to see a little water and a few ducks, my bed still looked like a better option.   Perhaps the fact that just a short distance away it had emerged as steam and boiling water and now it was freezing in the cool morning air makes it special.

Volcanic water accumulating into salt lake

Finally the “indigene” (“tourist”) village with all kinds of “artisan crafts” where the tourists outnumbered the villagers by about 50 to 1.

Macuma village - Old indigene settlement

The 60 mile drive back to San Pedro along tortuous rough roads was equally tiring. I don’t think I can find a way of recommending this!!

Before leaving san Pedro we did have a walk around and took a look around the old church, dating from 1570’s and mentioning in its history the original indigene chief “Cacique” who led the local indians when the Catholic miussionaries arrived.

San Pedro Church - dating from 1570's

San Pedro Church - Interior

San Pedro, Chile – Purmamarca, Argentina: 265 miles: Coldest yet but a Geo-Type day of plenty

San Pedro sits at the edge of the Atacama Desert and just a mile from the border post.  Rising fairly early we left for a moderate day’s riding and a chance to enter our 13^th and final country, although as you will later see we will bounce from Chile to Argentina several times.  It is a geographic curiosity that the Chilean border post to exit Chile is 100 miles from the Argentinian border post to enter Argentina.    When you see the geography in between, you will understand! Both border posts were efficient and rapid, especially the Argentinian side which was very quick and helpful.

San Pedro lies at about 8,800 (2,800 metres) feet above sea level. Heading East one encounters a line of volcanoes of various ages framing the Atacama.  The road is long and straight up to the edge of the volcanic suture line along the edge of the tectonic plate margin then rises rapidly to over 15,000 feet (nearly 5,000 metres) through a series of steep switchbacks and hairpin bends frequently punctuated with burned out vehicles and memorials bearing testimony to those who have not been as cautious about their journey as we had intended to be.

Volcanic Mountain range along the edge of the high Atacama plateau

Having crossed the first line of volcanoes we then rode for 30 mils or more at high elevation, and low temperature – dropping as low as 0.5C (or 33F) and making us stop more than once to add layers of clothes as the wind chill took it to well below freezing.

But the sun shone and the volcanic landscape of cones, ash layers and lava flows brought out the geologist in me yet again….zzzzzzz.

There was a second line of volcanoes very much like those bordering the Atacama Desert, again rising to 15,000 feet and then a drop into a quite distinct landscape dominated not by volcanic rocks, but now more sedimentary rocks.  In the basins between the mountains salt flats developed as volcanic water spilled out through fissures in the earth’s surface, condensed and formed lakes of salty water. Evaporation causes the salt to be deposited forming flat, white, cracked surfaces.  In some places the salt is commercially mined.  Of course any opportunity to capture a new landscape and the bikes, can never be passed up.

Playing on the salt flats

Dropping down another two thousand feet through a winding valley and with increasing temperature, we arrived at the small town of Purmamarca, nestled in a valley and with fresh water available for growing vegetables and especially fruit for the city of San Sebastian de Juyjuy to the south.  And of course, being a quaint little town in a picturesque valley, the town was also host to a large number of tourists.

Dropping down to Purmamarca - Check out the switchbacks!

Purmamarca – Cafayate: 220 miles:  Getting lost and enjoying it!

As is our habit, we left early to get on the road.  Following the route notes provided it became obvious within a couple of miles that in the 4 years since our leaders last used this road, it had changed quite a bit.   A series of roadworks, detours and new roads all conspired to make this a day when neither our written guidance notes nor our satellite navigation systems were going to be a complete solution to arriving at our destination along the intended path.

Our route guidance suggested a ride through single track roads and cloud forest.  Our actual route took us for long stretches of 4 lane highway until reaching the city of Salta.  The northern area of Argentina is where the largest concentration of indigene population still live.  We read that the Spanish conquest was 95% annihilation through European diseases such as small pox and influenza, and the rest military superiority.  The accounts and postulated theories put forward by Jared Diamond in his book “Guns, Germs and Steel” are quite compelling in accounting for the rapid conquest of South and Central America by the Spanish and Portuguese.

Intentionally or not, we rode through the centre of Salta and I found it to be a pleasant, though quite large and geographically extensive city with a mixture of old, colonial style buildings and new.  The fact that it was about 40C (100F) and traffic was heavy, meant that I did not take the time to know the city.  Emerging on the south side we encountered yet another set of major roadworks and diversions until escaping the city traffic chaos and into the head of a long, dry valley after passing over a ridge.

Immediately the landscape changes and the geology indicates that the valley is a major fault line with twisted and contorted beds of sedimentary rock adjacent to volcanic intrusions.  Over this is a thick layer of glacial deposits and into all is the deeply incised river slicing its way through the tortured rocks.

Approaching Cafayate - Beginning of canyon

Trying to explain, even in my own mind, what the geologic history has been became an impossible task, so I just enjoyed the ride, marvelled a the rocks and took a few photos.

Canyon

Canyon vista

Occasionally a whimsical rock formation would catch my eye, such as this one, appropriately named El Sapo (“the toad”)

The Toad rock!

Cafayate – Catamarca: 230 Miles – Cold, wet, muddy, scary, warm, dry, twisty,neo-colonial!

Catamarca….Or to give it its correct name, San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca!  Today could not have been more of a contrast.  Indeed, the past three days could not have been more different….From San Pedro in arid desert over 15,000 feet volcanic ridges and freezing temperatures of 0.5C, to yesterday’s trip through Salta and the Canyon of Valle de Lerma near Cafayate in 40C, and today freezing fog, long stretches of the worst roads we have seen since northern Mexico and parts of Nicaragua and Honduras, followed by some excellent mountain roads dropping into Catamarca.

Leaving Cafayate, the sleepy little town based around the wine industry and other agricultural pursuits as the desert gave way to plains and the water table is, I presume, closer to the surface, we crossed the plain covered with vines and occasional cattle and horse ranches.  At 5,500 feet (1,800 metres) above sea level, it felt positively healthy to have so much oxygen available to breath!  The bike also has so much more power after the energy sapping days in mountains above 10,000 feet.

The road we started on was the famous Ruta 40, which in later posts you will see is my Nemesis for its off-road sections, but today was smooth asphalt with concrete gullies for storm water.   As we turned off, heading East on the Ruta 38, the road began to rise, become narrower and the surface became pot-holed, rutted and with several generations of poorly laid patches on a poorly laid road bed it was both difficult and uncomfortable to exceed 40 mph around the tight bends and frequent sudden descents or ascents.   The landscape changed from flat and undulating semi-arid valley floor to dry rounded hills as we rose to nearly 9,500 feet (3,000 Metres) through a series of interlocking valleys and steep sided canyons, until the low cloud reduced visibility to just 30 metres or so.

Speed reduced accordingly as the road continued to deteriorate.  Just before we lost visibility we encountered a veritable forest of cactus plants, reaching as high as 10 metres.  These are called Cardon locally and have an internal woody skeleton which when weathered and dried has a honeycomb appearance and is used for decorative wood
panelling.

Cactus forest at 4,000 feet

In Chile the exploitation wassuch that it is now illegal to cut them down.

The visibility declined, the temperature dropped to 8C (46F), the road surface deteriorated and as I had not had the foresight to put on my wet weather gloves, I had no way of cleaning my helmet visor.  The Goretex gloves have a clever little windscreen wiper built into the finger and allow me to keep the visor clear.  But with a fine mist and low speeds there was no way of keeping visibility, so with misted glasses I made slow progress.  And then….the road turned into mud as the road crews were in the process of renewing the surface, but for the next 30 miles the surface was scraped off leaving just gravel, rock, mud or bull-dozed landslides through some of the tightest bends and steepest descents we have seen, with the road clinging to the edge of the cliff and deep fall offs on the side.  It was not my favourite road or driving conditions.

At about mile 72 we came across a coffee stop and all was well.  The rain had stopped, the coffee was excellent (and cakes too), and time was taken to clean the visor, change the gloves and re-assemble composure.

From there we had more sections of poor road surface but at least in fairly dry conditions until reaching a good surface for the remainder
of the day.  The valley was flat, with what appeared to be wheat or some other grass based plant on the sides of the road.  With about 50 miles to go we turned off and ascended a series of hills with great riding surface and long sweeping bends.  And so the descent into Catamarca and following ritual of shower and clothes washing, time for a late lunch and evening briefing…and blog catch up!

The square and neo-colonial cathedral at Catamarca